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Spiritual Therapeutics; 



OR, 



DIVINE SCIENCE. 



APPLIED TO 



Moral, Mental and Physical Harmony. 



TWELVE LECTURES. 



/ BV 



W. J. COLVILLE, 

Author of " The Spiritual Science of Health and Healing," 

Etc., Etc. 





J^V 



ALSO A LECTURE ON 



Ue"scientifio Science" 

BY 

Dr. ANNA KINGSFORD 
Author of "The Perfect Way," Etc., Etc. 



CHICAGO: 

EDUCATOR PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

Lock Box 338. 

1888. 




-jrz- A 



c-v*- 



Copyright, 1888, by 
W. J. COLVILLE. 



All Rights Reserved. 



Donohub & Hbnnbberry, Printers and Binders, Chicago. 



PKEFACE. 

( ' ~ 

HHHIS work is issued to meet a long-felt want for a 
-*- compendious statement of the essential principles 
of Spiritual Science as presented in harmony with the 
advanced thought of the present day. No endeavor 
has been made to accomplish the impossible, therefore 
the claim is not put forward that any subject is treated 
finally or exhaustively. The Spiritual Science of Health 
and Healing, published in 1887, first in Boston and 
then in Chicago, has met with so large a circulation all 
over the world that the author has consented to pub- 
lish this new work for the purpose of answering many 
questions, and more fully elucidating many problems 
raised in the minds of readers of Spiritual Science of 
Health and Healing. The original intention of this 
work was to put in the hands of enquirers into Spir- 
itual Science everywhere a handy text-book, portable 
in form and procurable at nominal expense, designed 
expressly as an aid to study both in the class-room, 
the home circle and the private study. In addition it 
has been found highly desirable to append a consider- 
able number of thoroughly authenticated cases of heal- 
ing without the use of medicine or any physical contact 
whatsoever. 



PREFACE. 

The questions and answers have been carefully 
selected from those asked and answered in classes and 
also from a great number forwarded to the author in 
response to public invitation through the press. The 
directions for treatment have received special attention, 
and it is confidently believed by the projectors of this 
volume that every man, woman and child of average 
intelligence, who will study this subject carefully and 
give it the serious attention it so richly deserves, will 
find him or herself able to demonstrate the truth of 
much, at least, of what is expounded in the following 
pages. With the earnest hope and fervent prayer that 
a perusal of these pages may be fraught with blessing 
to all who study them, the reader is referred to the 
body of the volume. 

N. B. — The following synopses of twelve class les- 
sons are intended as skeleton hints for persons desirous 
of pursuing a systematic course of thoughtful study in 
the privacy of their own homes. They are also sug- 
gested as fruitful for consideration in assemblies of 
inquirers, where the custom is to have something read 
by a president, and then talked over by the members 
of the fraternity or club. They will, also, perhaps, be 
found of some slight assistance to young teachers in 
preparing themselves to meet their classes. 



CONTENTS. 



LESSON I. 

Page. 
God — The Relation op Man to the Infinite — Dif- 
ference Between Reason and Intuition 7 to 14 

LESSON II. 

The Human Mind; Its Origin and Destiny — At What 
Period Did it Begin in Time? — What Room Does 
it Occupy in Space?— Is it Substance or Force?— 
Is it a Cause or an Effect? — What Specifically 
is its Shape, Size and Substance ? — Upon What 
Principles or by WnAT Properties Can it Re- 
sist Destruction (A Subject Given to Mrs. 
Cora L. V. Richmond by a Philosophical Society 
in Chicago, and Treated Upon by the Author 
of This Volume by Particular Request) 15 to 33 

LESSON III. 

The Divinity of Christ, the Only Begotten Son 
of God — The Essential and the Historical 

Christ Contrasted 34 to 54 

iii 



IV CONTENTS. 

LESSON IV. 
Evil and its Remedy 55 to 75 

LESSON V. 
Resurrection 76 to 94 

LESSON VI. 
Transfiguration 95 to 118 

LESSON VII. 

True Individuality— In What Sense and to What 
extent is Man a Free Moral Agent, and What is 
the Ultimate op Individual Spiritual Attain- 
ment ? 119 to 139 

LESSON VIII. 

What is the Perfect Way, and How May We Walk 

in it ? 140 to 162 

LESSON IX. 

The Religious Instinct ; Its Origin, Growth and Ul- 
timate Perfection 163 to 184 

LESSON X. 

How Can We Explain Miracles Scientifically, and 
Accomplish Wonders Apparently Transcending 
the Operation of Natural Law ? 185 to 204 



CONTENTS. v 

LESSON XL 

Practical Advice to Students, Healers and Pa- 
tients, and Directions for the Application op 
Spiritual Science to all the Avocations of 
Daily Life 205 to 218 

LESSON XII. 
Formulas, Their Use and Value 219 to 233 

MISCELLANEOUS 
Questions 234 to 289 

TEACHINGS 

Of Spiritual Science Concerning Treatments of 

the Lower Animals 290 to 292 

UNSCIENTIFIC SCIENCE. 

Moral Aspects of Vivisection, ry Dr. Anna Kings- 
ford 292 to 308 

A FORM OF TREATMENT. 
Contributed ey Mrs. Sara Harris, Berkeley, Cal. , 309 



VI CONTENTS. 

LEAVES FROM STUDENT'S NOTE BOOK. 
Spiritual Science Catechism 310 to 321 

APPENDIX. 

Testimonials From a Number op Experienced Heal- 
ers 322 to 332 



LESSON I. 



GOD THE RELATION OF MAN TO THE INFINITE DIFFERENCE 

BETWEEN REASON AND INTUITION. 

8EEKEKS after truth, whoever you may be, wher- 
ever you may dwell, the topic we are now about 
o discuss appeals vitally to every one of you. As the 
subject is infinite and eternal in its bearings, neither 
we who address you nor you who are addressed can 
rightfully be expected to fully comprehend the subject 
of this lesson; but it is not to your intellectual com- 
prehension so much as to your spiritual perception 
we address ourselves. Consider first how man has 
grown into a belief in Deity. Whence did this belief 
spring? How did it originate? These are ques- 
tions we must look boldly in the face. The mind of 
man is a mirror, a reflector, but not a creator. The 
thoughts of the human mind never transcend, but 
invariably and inevitably fall very far short of the 
realities of Absolute Being, therefore, all human errors 
are limitations of truth, negations of fact, but never 
in a solitary instance has an erroneous human opinion 
been found to transcend reality. Man perceives God, 
i. <?., he realizes intuitively his relation to an Infinite 
Power, Energy or Force which permeates the Universe, 
and is the Life of the Universe. This Infinite Life we 
call God, which is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning All 
Good, or the Good One. 

7 



8 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Agnostics admit the eternity and infinity of Power 
Energy or Force, but they pronounce its nature and 
attributes unknowable, and perhaps to the unassisted 
intellect they are so. We do not disparage or trample 
upon human reason in any sense when w r e proclaim the 
infinite superiority of intuitive perception of truth 
no intellectual realization of external facts. Intuition 
is super-rational, but never does it urge upon us the 
acceptance of anything irrational or sub-rational. 
Reason infers, intuition proves the being of God, thus 
we have two witnesses instead of one, ready to testify 
to the reality of the Divine Being. We wish you at 
once, before we proceed am' further in this lesson, to 
notice how studiously we avoid speaking of the divine 
existence, which we consider a word misapplied when- 
ever used in connection with the Infinite. Being alone 
is eternal, existence is temporal. God is, the ex- 
ternal universe exists. God is the source of all being, 
is indeed Being itself, consequently cannot be 
limited or personified. God then is super-personal 
Spirit, not impersonal but super-personal. Impersonal 
means less than personal, while super-personal means 
superior to personality. There are three words we 
shall often introduce into these lessons: 

1st. Identity. 

2d. Individuality. 

3d. Personality. 

These refer respectively to Spirit, to Mind and to 
Matter, which constitute the three-fold expression of 
the absolute Life. The circle has always been chosen 
as the symbol of infinity and eternity, but any circle 
we can describe is finite, and therefore resembles man 



SPIRIT CAL THERAPEUTICS. 9 

who is in the image of God, but cannot resemble God 
in so far as it has limitations, for God is necessarily 
limitless. You have all heard often enough of macro- 
cosm and the microcosm, the former, you know, means 
the infinite whole, the latter signifies the finite like- 
ness of the whole. God is the macrocosm. Man is the 
microcosm. The difference, then, between God and 
Man is quantitative and not qualitative. What God is, 
that is Man, for Man is in the image and likeness of the 
Eternal One. The best instructed minds in spiritual 
truth are by no means invariably such as have profited 
most by the methods of scholasticism, for scholarship 
is purely intellectual, while spiritual discernment is 
altogether independent of the bookworm and pertains 
entirely to the culture of the psychic faculty. There 
is in man a psychic element which defies external 
investigation, and baffles intellectual research, because 
it invariably transcends the reason, which it, however, 
never contradicts. Our first lesson, of necessity, brings 
us to a point where we are under the necessity of dis- 
criminating between reason and intuition, as intuition 
only can unlock the door of the inner temple of our 
being which remains forever barred against the per- 
sistent knocking of any lower power. God is known 
only to intuition. Reason is a faculty whereby man- 
kind is able to decide with reference to all questions 
which can be submitted to the human mind for judg- 
ment. It is a purely intellectual and analytical faculty, 
the possession of which enables one to rise to the lof- 
tiest heights of purely mental glory, but reason is soul- 
less. We do not say it is in opposition to man's high- 
est spiritual nature. It simply fails to apprehend it. 



10 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

It is agnostic in its attitude toward all purely spirit- 
ual revelation or discovery. It can, of course, be 
employed to prove the reality of spirit and the good of 
the affections, hut it can also be used to deny the very 
being of Deity and can argue against as readily as for 
the immortality of man. Reason is unable to cope 
with spiritual truth ; it can neither prove nor disprove 
what intuition affirms- Intuition is perception. It is a 
purely spiritual faculty, and is no more intended to change 
places with reason than eyes are to do duty in the 
stead of ears. Reason looks to the earth; it is a 
naturalist, a geologist, by natural bent, while intuition 
looks to the heavens and discovers stars while reason 
delves amid fossils. We do not for a single instant 
decry reason, nor would we underrate its power for 
good in the world, but, like all the physical faculties 
possessed by man, it is a two edged sword. It can be used 
either for good or evil. It will defend right or wrong as 
the case may be. In the hands of a criminal lawyer the 
closest reasoning, severest logic is often used to justify 
the wrong doer and thereby to defeat justice and 
defraud the innocent. The greatest reasoners are by no 
means always the greatest saints neither are they 
proverbially the greatest sinners, but we fail to see 
where unaided reason contributes much to the high- 
est welfare or greatest happiness of the race. The 
steam engine, the telephone, various electrical appli- 
ances, the deadliest weapons of warfare, the cruelest 
devices for torturing men and criminals, are all alike 
products of human reason, it depends upon the use to 
which secular information is put as to whether or no it 
really benefits mankind in the sense of moral elevation. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 11 

We cannot be too rational, too inventive, or too analyt- 
ical, provided always we are first moral and spiritual. 
Intuition, as we understand it, signifies clear moral 
perception, genuine spiritual discernment. Intuition is 
always loving, kind and just. It is divine reason, and 
therefore lies beyond the realm in which what is ordi- 
narily known as reason finds its field of operation. 
Intuition is certain and infallible. It deals with spir- 
itual truth by exact methods just as the multiplication 
table deals with figures — twice 2 must always be 4. 
We can arrive at certitude in numeration, Mathemati- 
cal demonstrations are absolute. Are there then no 
means of arriving at exact spiritual truth ? We believe 
there is a royal way through the gateway of spir- 
itual perception, which discerns spiritual realities with 
demonstrable exactitude. The question is continually 
asked us, How do you stand with regard to the matter 
of education ? Do jovl consider a person need be liter- 
ary in order to excel as a spiritual healer ? We always 
reply in the decided negative, for many of the best 
healers we have ever met were, from a scholastic point 
of view, the most illiterate. 

Let us see if we cannot decide why this is so. All 
information is of some value to its possessor. We can, 
none of us, know too much, but Pope, perhaps, was 
right, when he sang, " A little learning is a dangerous 
thing," but wherein consists the danger, probably the 
poet would have answered in the language of the great 
philosopher, Francis Bacon, " A little learning inclineth 
man to atheism." But why should it ? What is there 
in learning, any way, to shake man's faith in God? 
Does not everything testify to the being of an Infinite 



12 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Intelligence ? Is not the argument for design unanswer- 
able. Verily, still the mind, when first steeped in the 
pleasure of intellectual acquisition, becomes so infatu- 
ated and intoxicated with the charms of outer things, 
and withal so vain of its petty achievements that a 
frame or mood is too often excited, which correctly 
expresses itself in the dominant conviction, "what 
I don't know, is not worth knowing." If there are 
any such mental states in the waj T of your accepting a 
new truth, new to you, though to others old as the 
universe, you must be converted and become as little 
children in all teachableness of disposition, before you 
can possibly perceive the truth of Spirit. Blessed are 
the clean or pure of heart, for they shall see God, is 
no idle dreamer's romance. 

Purity of affection, cleanliness of desire, is as nec- 
essary to enable one to arrive at spiritual knowledge 
as ever eyes can be to see with or windows in houses to 
admit the light of day. Strive to forget at the thresh- 
old of these instructions that you know anything; let 
every proposition come before you with the charm and 
weight of novelty; give your memory a rest and come 
prepared to fully consider in all candor and sincerity 
whatever may be advanced. In this temper alone can 
you be prepared to give, to what may seem to } r ou as 
a new science, the attention it deserves and rightfully 
demands at the hands of intelligent lovers of and 
seekers after truth. Let us for a moment try to dis- 
criminate carefully and clearly between memory and 
consciousness. Memory is invariably treacherous at 
best, in our present stage of development, while con- 
sciousness is persistently, invariably the same. I am at 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 13 

this instant conscious that I am. That I am what? 
This question I may be unable to answer satisfact- 
orily even to myself; I may have to fall back upon 
words attributed by Bible writers to Jehovah, " I am 
that I am." What I am I may not realize. I know 
that I am, i. e., I am conscious of having being a ml 
I feel moreover that however nearly I may be con- 
nected or however intimately associated with others, 
I am not another and another is not I. What, then, 
am I who am not another \ and what, then, is another 
who is not I? The mystery of individual identity is 
displayed and illustrated in all nature from the greatest 
to the smallest. The identity of the unit is most 
sacredly preserved. This is never sacrificed to the 
mass. 

Absorption into the Deity is a foolish expression. 
Many persons in their struggles to modernize and 
occidentalize oriental writings, have labored hard in 
the course of fatiguing disquisitions concerning Nirvana 
to persuade the world that the extinction of individual 
consciousness is the blissful summit of human attainment. 
Such, however, is not the highest Eastern thought. 
Edwin Arnold, at the conclusion of his Light of Asia, 
takes far nobler ground than this, and in his India 
Revisited he tells us of the grateful thanks and cordial 
welcomes he received from Buddhist priests, both in 
Hindoostan and Ceylon, as tribute to the faithfulness 
with which he had portrayed the tenets of Buddhism 
in his story of the "great renunciation." We allude 
to this, not because we turn to Asia for that spiritual 
light which can come only from within, but to show 
how misleading it is for any one to think that all of 



14 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

truth is concentrated in a single system of religion. 
Universal Theosophy or Spiritual Science is the friend 
of Truth wherever found, but its main object is to call it 
out from within the depths of every individual. A knowl- 
edge or perception of the logos, divine word, or essen- 
tial Christ, which is indeed the Way, the Truth and 
the Life, is the Universal Enlightener and the only 
absolute source of divine guidance for the individual. 



LESSON II. 



THE HUMAN MIND 

PERIOD DID IT BEGIN IN TIME ? WHAT ROOM DOES IT OC- 
CUPY IN SPACE? IS IT SUBSTANCE OR FORCE? IS IT A 

CAUSE OR AN EFFECT? WHAT SPECIFICALLY IS ITS 

SHAPE, SIZE AND SUBSTANCE ? UPON WHAT PRINCIPLES 

OR BY WHAT PROPERTIES CAN IT RESIST DESTRUCTION ? 
(A SUBJECT GIVEN TO MRS. CORA L. V. RICHMOND BY A 
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN CHICAGO, AND TREATED UPON 
BY THE AUTHOR OF THIS VOLUME BY PARTICULAR 
REQUEST.) 

SUCH a subject as this can only be satisfactorily 
dealt with in a series of discourses, there is so 
much included in these questions concerning the mind 
of man. The question in such a form as it here as- 
sumes would never be asked by enlightened Theoso- 
phists acquainted with the spiritual side of man's nature, 
but is constantly propounded by realistic philosophers, 
who maintain that every thing must be material in order 
to be real ; must have size and shape, gravity and 
ponderability evident to external sense in order to be 
in the realm of real existence. 

Now the human mind must be conceived of as) 
distinct from the human soul. Therefore, as our present 
subject is the human mind we shall deal only with 
mind as we understand it, leaving the question of the 
divine soul — which is beyond the mind — which is con- 

15 



16 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

sidered in our first lesson, or only touching upon it 
when necessary to explain the nature of mind as de- 
rived from the soul. 

Now Mind Cure is a popular term, but spiritual 
healing is a far more appropriate one and covers a 
great deal more ground than mental healing, because 
the spirit is superior to the mind, even as intuition or 
moral perception is superior to the intellectual^ We 
may be intellectual, ration a], very learned; Ave may be 
paragons of perfection in an intellectual sense, through 
acquaintance with arts, physical sciences and philoso- 
phy Jand yet be miserably devoid of soul culturejand 
if devoid of soul culture, if the divine breath is not 
made manifest in us, if we are not unfolded on the 

spiritual side of our nature, all our intellectual develop- 

\ S . - -- — — ""~^ 

mentjwill not avail to save us from sickness and 

surTerin^L 

The**nind of man must be subordinate to the divine 
soul. Intellectual progress must be made subordinate 
to spiritual culture. Reason must be subordinated to 
conscience or the moral sense, if nothing higher than 
the mind of man be recognized, if nothing beyond in- 
tellect or reason be cultivated, a man, though a prodigy 
of valor, or an encyclopedia of information, concerning 
worldly knowledge, will lack the only wisdom that can 
guide him safely over the tempestuous waters of> { ea rthly. 
discipline. T x 

The human mind, its origin and destiny, must sig- 
nify the origin and destiny of a servant of the soul. 
There is a power within you be\/ond the mind, which 
causes you to often build wiser than you know. You 
declare that your mind changes, and it does. Your 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 17 

mind is only the accumulated mass of your thoughts. 
All vour thoughts together constitute your mental state: 
but the thinking principle, the power that gives you 
your mind (the mind being only an organ or perhaps 
only a function of the spirit) is the spirit (atma). 

The individual mind of man originates in the soul 
of man. "We will express our idea in this wise: The 
soul of man we regard as the ultimate spiritual atom, 
the essential primary. Those of you who are familiar 
with scientific analyses and with the terms used by the 
schools, know well that a distinction is made in the 
scientific world, and that a very broad one, between 
the atom or primal, the monad and the molecule. The 
atom or primal it is inferred is self existent, and being 
self existent it was of course never created andean, 
therefore, never be destroyed. The molecule or monad 
is only an expression of life, a manifestation ; there- 
fore scientific inference, granting that substance is 
eternal (as science invariably declares), concludes that 
an atom alwa} T s has existed and always will. 

There may have been periods when the molecule 
or monad was not. Molecules or monads having 
come into existence during time and being results of 
the movements of atoms, may pass away in time, but 
the atoms themselves, whose movements have made 
the existence of molecules or monads possible, can 
never pass aAvay. 

it strikes us as extremely singular that learned 
bodies of men, such as the Presbyterian assembly, for 
example, should ever have fallen into the error of sup- 
posing that, according to a time rendering of Genesis, 
the human body must have been created by a direct 



18 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

act of God's sovereignty out of nothing. Such a 
ridiculous hypothesis is equivalent to saying God is 
nothing ; because, according to Gensis, everything is 
the result of God's activity. The spirit of God is said 
to have moved upon the waters, moved through the 
vast expanse filled by what is called — for want of a 
better term — chaos, without form and void, and this 
directing intelligence organized the original cosmic 
fluid into organic forms. Such a definition of creation 
is certainly not to the effect that anything was made 
out of nothing, but that everything was made from 
and by the action of the spirit of God. 

The spirit of God is not " nothing," but according 
to the Rosicrucian definition, it may be spoken of as 
No Thing, which signifies the Eternal and Infinite cause 
of everything. The spirit of God, the divine life, is 
the one Eternal, Primordial Being which defies all 
analysis and cannot be discovered by any mortal 
method of research, because it is altogether impalpable, 
immaterial and wholly spiritual, and if apprehended 
at all, must be apprehended by the soul which is in the 
image and likeness of Eternal Spirit, 

Now this theory gives you a logical basis for ex- 
istence. Out of nothing, nothing comes, but every 
manifested thing proceeds from something greater 
than itself. Every effect proceeds necessarily from a 
cause adequate to produce it. The cause may be 
greater than the effect, but cannot possibly be less 
than the effect. As a cause must be equal to or 
greater than the effect which it produces, and as 
" nothing " is an unmeaning term, for you can have 
no idea of "nothing" in your mind (an idea being 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 19 

something), it is absurd to infer that anything was 
ever made out of nothing, it is also a reductlo ad 
absurdum of sciolistic ignorance that mind is a creat- 
ure of matter, because mind is demonstrably the right- 
fid lord over matter. 

If every thing proceeds from what is infinitely 
greater than itself — every manifestation of life being 
only an expression of the intelligence of All Pervad- 
ing Deit\ T — if the life of the entire universe, pri- 
mordially and elementally is God's life, then we can 
understand that there is no creation other than or- 
ganization, and no destruction other than disintegra 
tion. There can be no annihilation, for annihilation 
means the destruction of being, but there can be dis- 
organization. Spiritualists affirm that in materializing 
circles forms are built up, apparently, out of invisible 
atmosphere ; that they stand palpably in the presence 
of the sitters for a while and then vanish from sight. 
The New Testament declares that Jesus after His 
crucifixion appeared to His disciples, manifesting to 
them in palpable form, and then vanished ont of 
their sight. Chemistry declares that all substances 
can be volatilized, i. e., converted into impalpable 
ether ; solids and fluids change into gases ; the hard- 
est substances float away into invisible and intang- 
ible realms. 

The researches and knowledge of the scientific world 
abundantly prove that the realm of potentiality is a realm 
of invisibility. Electricity, that wondrous motor power 
now coming into universal use, is strictly invisible; the 
wind which as it blows manifests such terrible and 
mighty force in tornado or hurricane is invisible; the 



20 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

steam that propels gigantic vessels across the ocean is 
invisible, and so with all the forces of which man knows 
anything. According to scientific statements there are 
many millions of sounds and colors that are neither 
heard nor seen,beeause the vibrations which cause them 
and which indeed, they are, make no impression upon 
your optic or auditory nerves. Now as the great and 
mysterious realm of causation, which materialists admit 
is superior to gross matter, is absolutely unknown to 
external sense; when we declare life to be invisible, the 
immortal soul to be real though invisible we simply con- 
clude that everthing logically that everything destined 
to outlive the mortal body is invisible and spiritual we 
accord with science. The fleshly body is only an aggre- 
gation of molecules, which are ever being displaced 
to make room for others. Attraction and repulsion 
change outward forms incessantly. While consciousness 
abides, we can reasonably declare that the immor- 
tality of the soul, yea, and the pre-existence of the 
soul also is an inference of science. 

Epes Sargent, one of the most eloquent and scien- 
tific writers upon modern spiritualism, in his work 
entitled, "The Scientific Basis of Spiritualism," proves 
conclusively by the soundest argument and clearest 
logic that immortality is inferred by physical as well 
as mental science. 

Kev. M. J. Savage, a popular Unitarian minister 
of Boston, has taken the ground that immortality may 
be conjectured from analogical evidences supplied by 
nature. Many lights in the Unitarian church, and in 
other liberal denominations, many luminaries in the 
scientific world, and many philosophers outside all 



SPiBITtTAL THERAPEUTICS. "Jl 

creeds and denominations take a similar position. The 
question of questions to-day is, " Are we matter or 
spirit ? " 

Xow, the primal source of being must be unitary. 
There cannot be two Eternals, two Infinites, two Al- 
mighties, and we maintain that the fact of the human 
mind being totally invisible to sense, and the fact of the 
soul being entirely beyond the reach of the scalpel or 
dissecting knife (neither vivisection nor any other cruel 
practice invented by the barbarism of materialism to 
account for the origin of life having discovered its 
source in anywise), the fact that soul and mind can not 
be materially discovered furnishes abundant proof that- 
all that is real abides forever in the realm of the All 
Powerful, which is Spirit. Our senses never apprehend 
one hundredth part of what our souls recognize, this 
experience alone sufficiently demonstrates to the un- 
prejudiced thinker that the invisible realm of intelli- 
gence is the seat of causation. 

In art everything is conceived by the painter men- 
tally before there can be an} T outward expression. The 
inventor has his model and machine in working order 
in his mind before he can take the first step toward pre- 
paring a model for public exhibition or setting anyone 
at work to construct the external body of his invention. 

You may pronounce transcendentalism folly, you 
may demand something practical, but you could never 
have am r practical object or external knowledge unless 
some one had first beheld a design in mind. Even 
in the matter of dress the fashion plate is the result of 
some new thought in some one's mind; before there can 
be any outward garment made it must be planned in 






■ . .-. . :- i:":-:: 



mind. So with every material comfort, with every 
external thing you enjoy, mind first operates and mat- 
ter proves sei \*nt. 

As mind first produces plans and models anc 
hands to work afterward eonstructing apparatus 
apply motor power externally, it is invariably the case 
that the nearer you approach the realm of absolute 
mentality, the more wonderful are discoveries, the 
mightier and more matchless the exhibitions of man's 
consummate skill. This is instanced by the fact of no 
outward effort, however superb, fully satisfying the de- 
signer. 

The mind of man is the handiwork of the soul, which 
is an embodiment of the divine creative energy dis- 
played in universal nature. Materialists or Atheists 
looking no farther than man. often declare that while 
they find no God in the uniTerse to worship, they are 
willing to worship great men. So great, so marvelous 
are the achievements of the human mind guided by 
the soul that infidelity may almost be excused for put- 
ting man upon the throne of the universe and worship- 
ing man. who is in the image of God. as God. In 
every school that disallows the existence of an In- 
finite Divine Spirit as the cause of the universe we 
behold, man is made to take the place of God » 
the school of Auguste Comtei. At this we do not 
wonder, as the highest manifestation of God is through 
:_r ".. — ::> _:: : : " ~~r ::: r. :: — :i."t_ :'_; : _'::...- ::.- 
reflects are bowed down to. or that human reason is 
deified: but we must not forget that at the close of 
the last century, when churches were closed and re- 
ligious worship proscribed, when all religious teach- 



JyTLEITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 23 

ing was under the ban of popular anathema, and 
reason was set up publicly as a goddess, men were 
shot down and stabbed in the streets of Paris and 
elsewhere, and this was because reason alone, intel- 
lect, apart from spirituality, is not capable of saving 
or redeeming a nation. Xo one is capable of gov- 
erning wisely and well unless bis reason is married 
to intuition. Conscience, the moral sense, the divine 
affection of the spirit, must be the dominating force, 
or an age of reason is an age without heart. 

Do not think for a moment that we underrate 
the power of reason, or that we decry the glorious 
human intellect, or that we undervalue the advan- 
tages of mental training in colleges and seminaries. 
But history certainly proves that Greece and Eome fell 
in spite of their intellect and their wonderfully beauti- 
ful art, and they fell solely because the people lacked 
spirituality. Phoenicia. Babylonia, and many another 
land once bright and glorious, but now desolate heaps of 
ruin, fell into decay because reason, esoterically speak- 
ing — man without woman, intellect without soul, 
brain without conscience — held sway and was idol- 
ized. All deep thinkers agree that in the present 
generation if there be no recognition found for sorae- 
thing beyond human reason, if nothing above in- 
tellect is acknowledged, men will become cultured 
tyrants. 

Mind of man, thou art no ruler save of the physical 
body. Reason of man, thou art not the supreme inter- 
preter of Deity, still thou hast a mission appointed thee 
to govern the senses. Mind of man. wonderful intellect, 
glorious reason, thou art a captain appointed over all 



24 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

the bodily functions and carnal appetites and thou must 
reign supreme over these; but thou hast a Commander, 
a General, a higher Officer of the army in which thou 
art stationed, whom thou must acknowledge as thy 
Euler, for with ail thy vaunted strength and boasted 
superiority, thou art the servant of a loftier power, even 
the power of the soul divine which is the source even of 
thy existence. 

It is the power of soul, of religion pure and unde- 
fined, of genuine spirituality, of the divine life in man 
that can alone save and uplift a nation or an individual. 

We care not how distinguished may be halls of 
learning, how great the dignity of prof essors of art and 
literature, or how profound the teachings of the schools, 
if there be lacking the power of the living spirit, beyond 
the finite reason, man will not and cannot be perfected, 
neither can the earth complete the cycle of its changes 
and arrive at the golden age so long foretold when sick- 
ness, sin and sorrow will be utterly unknown. 

The mind of man is not the supreme or primal 
cause; it is a secondary cause, beyond which we trace 
the divine soul which is the primal or ultimate atom of 
life, related to eternity, the one absolute individuality 
which is your real self and with w-hich you can never 
part, no matter what lies before you in the way of ex- 
perience, either in this or any other world. The soul 
of man has made itself known to the intellect in some 
measure, but is quite beyond the perception of bodily 
sense. Scientists are ever searching for the atom which 
their microscopes have ever failed to find. Intellect, 
however, is already somewhat conscious of spiritual 
existence, It dimly apprehends spiritual entities which 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 25 

are immortal, even souls which can never cease to be, 
for they never began to be. 

The question is often asked, " Were souls always 
individual? Did man always know himself as an indi- 
vidual spark of divine life?" This question is unanswer- 
able unless we deal with it problematically; as one of 
the profoundest questions ever submitted to the intelli- 
gence of man, philosophy has often answered it in this 
manner, i. e. through processes of deduction. 

According to the Greek philosophers the soul is 
eternal. But though the soul has always existed, it may 
not always have reflected upon its existence as we 
now reflect. It may have existed as a seed exists 
before it is sown. It contains, within itself, unex- 
pressed, all the potentialities of manifested life. What 
is earthly discipline but the evolution of the mind's 
reasoning, intellectual and reflective powers? The soul 
produces a material form in the act of unfolding the 
attributes always within it. 

Agriculturists know that it is impossible to really 
create anything, still by planting a certain kind of seed, 
a certain unfoldment will follow. The germ of a rose 
will never produce a geranium. Every potentiality or 
possibility of fruition must inhere in the planted seed, 
for what is not within, can not be produced by any 
outward effort. So with our earthly discipline. We see 
what growth can do for the seed and how that can be 
made manifest which is already contained in the primal 
germ. 

Here we take decided issue with materialists, and 
challenge all who declare that mind is the product of 
matter, and human intelligence the result of physical 



26 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

organization. But another view of the statement shows 
us that if mind is the result of physical organization 
the declaration is proved true that all is mind and there 
is no matter. If materialism is logical it is only logical 
on the basis of the most extreme metaphysics, which 
declare that everything is mind and therefore there is 
no matter; if so called matter evidences mind, it is not 
matter but mind in another phase of existence. 

Now we all know that we can not apprehend any- 
thing except by the use of our mental faculties. You 
talk about seeing with the eye ; but let an eye be taken 
out of your head, will the eye see anything ? After the 
spirit has left the body, what can eyes behold? They 
see nothing, for thev are onlv mediums of communica- 

CD *■ n. 

tion between two objects both of which exist in mind. 
If there were no intelligence behind the eye looking 
through it,. or no intelligence beyond the brain, or no 
connection between that intelligence and the brain, or 
no connection between the brain and the retina of the 
eye, or between the retina of the eye and something 
external to the eye, could there be any perception 
through an organ of vision? But, you argue, "we can- 
not see without eyes. " We beg to differ from you, for 
we have known many persons physically blind who have 
seen clearly without bodily eyes; such we appropriately 
call clairaudientSjineaning persons who see with unusual 
clearness. If you refer to the experiments of Mesmer 
and others upon the subject of clairvoyance and clair- 
auclience. and also pay heed to w r hat is constantly trans- 
piring at the present time, you will find there are many 
people who see without a bodily eye, and clairvoyance 
does not enable persons to come in contact with ideas 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 27 

exclusively, but it also enables them to describe dis- 
tinctly the color, form and texture of material objects; 
and ciairaudients when physically deaf or with their 
ears completely stopped up, can hear sounds both near 
at hand and faraway when there can be no action upon 
the physical ear, they will often describe sounds per- 
fectly which are occurring in very distant places and that 
with perfect accuracy. 

Psychometric experiments prove conclusively that 
an object placed in the hand, or for that matter upon 
the back of the neck of a blindfolded person, can be 
accurately described as to its texture, color, form, 
dimensions and everything else you term material. 
There is evidence in the scientific world, among many 
who have not investigated spiritualism, but who have 
investigated clairvoyance and clairaudience, and have 
encountered persons gifted with psychometric power, 
that people constantly hear independently of bodily 
ears, taste without material palates, smell independent 
of nostrils, and detect a difference between velvet and 
stone, without coming into any physical contact with 
either the velvet or the stone. If } r ou investigate psy- 
chometry you can abundantly prove that there is in man 
a (power that works independently) "soul-measuring 11 
of his material body, a power that far transcends it and 
proves that the spiritual or psychic body is not an 
unreality, a mere phantasm, but far more real than the 
fleshly body of man. We declare that the real body of 
man is spiritual, man's whole nature is spiritual. But 
when we endeavor to apply the principle of metaphys- 
ics to healing mental and bodily infirmities we do not 
adopt the phraseology of those teachers who say you 



28 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

can see as well without an eye as with one. We prefer 
to say you can see perfectly with your spiritual eye if 
you have no bodily eye, you can hear perfectly with 
your spiritual ear if you have no physical ear ; there- 
fore if you lose your physical sight or your whole 
material body, remember you have a spiritual body, or 
you may call it, if you chose, an astral body, which is 
a body that has form, size and dimensions, and which 
exists in the realm of mind, and is the cause of your 
material body, and being its predecessor, outlasts it. 

If size appears in outward expression, there is prior 
size in invisible realms. If there are external dimensions 
there are dimensions in the realm of their causation, 
which is the realm of mind. If there are colors in out- 
ward expression there are colors in spirit. Shut your 
eyes and you can think of colors and sounds. Anything 
you can think about has an existence in the realm of 
thought. If it did not exist in the realm of thought 
you could not think about it. As everything produced 
in the material world is the result of thought, mind 
must necessarily be the power that produces it. That 
which you term matter is only a result of vibrations in 
lower octaves of the vibrations which cause what Swe- 
den borg terms spiritual substance. 

If the soul of man had not an eternal past, it cannot 
have an eternal future. But if, as we affirm, the soul 
has always existed in the bosom of the Infinite, if the 
soul has always been an individual atom in the eternal 
life, your immortal individuality is secure. Your reflec- 
tion upon your individuality may have been brought 
about in time; in time you may have made discoveries, 
through your intellect, of something you always per- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 29 

ceived in your soul. When the figurative books shall 
be opened and the soul fully testifies of itself, then will 
the great mystery of dual consciousness be explained; 
then will you understand how you are fully conscious 
in spirit when quite unconscious of outward things; 
then will your dream life no longer remain to you a 
mystery; then will all spiritual experiences glow with 
the light of complete interpretation, and you will be all 
aflame with a knowledge of your relation to the Eter- 
nal. You will then no more bow down before idols of 
material belief than you would pray to the images of 
wood and stone worshiped by poor Pagans who know 
not of life in spirit. 

Materialism says life springs from protoplasm. If 
everything comes from protoplasm, if it be primal, then 
it is spiritual, but if protoplasm is only another word 
for spirit, it is improper to employ it because it is mis- 
leading. Is it not affirmed in the scientific world that 
the discovery has been made by Darwin, Spencer and 
others of a primordial cell from which all life arises, and 
that this cell is the same for the monad as for man, the 
same for the jelly fish or the tadpole as for the philoso- 
pher ? If this be true, we simply exclaim that this 
primordial cell, representing the absolute primary in the 
material world, is the primal manifestation of intelli- 
gence in the realm of effect. All that Darwin or any 
evolutionist can accomplish is to trace effects to their 
seeming cause, from the circumference inward toward 
the center. Involution starts at the center. The soul 
is the center. Protoplasm is toward the circumference. 
Materialism starts near the circumference and endeavors 
to find the soul in dust. When you have found the soul 



30 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

you will comprehend protoplasm, which is a product, a 
creation by the soul. When you only know protoplasm 
you can know nothing of the soul, and thus you en- 
deavor to argue that unconscious dust has evolved spirit, 
that material atoms have evolved intelligence, and that 
consequently, on the breaking up of the physical organ- 
ism, the intelligence vanishes, as brightness from a pol- 
ished shield when dampness approaches it. It goes no- 
where, you say, whereas, from the standpoint of spirit, 
there is found an adequate and satisfactory solution for 
every material phenomena, while from the standpoint 
of materialism consciousness is an utterly miraculous 
phenomenon. 

In the realm of spirit the soul is the acknowledged 
creator of its expressions. The source and center of all is 
the divine life. In the divine life there is perfect rest, 
for it is absolute being. Divine life is the only center of 
the wheel of life. All revolutions are around that center, 
and no matter how rapidly the wheel may rotate, the 
center is always calm. From the inmost center, which is 
the divine cause, to the outermost effect, or circumfer- 
ence of the wheel, life is made manifest through the 
descent of spirit (involution) and the ascent of matter 
(evolution). 

We believe in the gradual development of species, 
in the ascent of the body of man; but this is a result of 
the descent of spirit. When spiritual descent and 
material ascent are understood by being studied to- 
gether ; when spiritually minded professors of involu- 
tion enlighten professors of evolution, light from the 
realm of causation — which is spiritual — will make com- 
prehensible the realm of effect, which is termed mate- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 3< 

rial. Then instead of supposing that yon are mere 
creatures of dust, or that a handful of dust has evolved 
an immortal soul; instead of dreaming that matter lias 
been refining itself age after age until from uncon- 
scious dust a conscious soul has been at length pro- 
duced; instead of imagining that everlasting life may be 
the result of an evolution from unconscious molecules, 
you will understand that from eternal life, wherein, ever 
exists the soul, has every outward expression proceeded. 
Man, then, instead of claiming relationship to dust will 
claim relationship to Deity. 

It is manifestly absurd to argue that effects are 
greater than causes, and works greater than their maker. 
If you are superior to every other form of life on the 
planet then your soul may have been a world builder, 
as in ages gone by the triumphant souls called in the 
Hebrew Scriptures " Elohim" the angels who shouted 
for joy at the completion of the external world, may 
have lived on earths long since depopulated and out- 
grown. Those angels must have been souls who had for 
ages been ascending the ladder of progress, who, from 
their glorious homes in spirit, may have caused their 
thoughts to have assumed form, upon earth, creation 
may have therefore been — as one of the Hebrew accounts 
declares — the work of the " Elohim." 

The soul is the creator of all material things. In 
spiritual life yon may change your spiritual bodies as 
you change your material forms on earth ; you will 
graduate to higher and ever higher forms of expression; 
you will accrete to you thought essences from the 
spiritual atmosphere, and finally, expression in all its 
outward forms having been fulfilled, the soul will know 
itself as conqueror over all. 



32 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

A period will arrive when you will be able to pro- 
duce any form you please; when upon tjie wings of 
thought you will pass from planet to planet as easily 
as birds navigate the air or lish swiiu in water. As rap- 
idly as your thought can move from one country to 
another, and from one star to another, does your soul 
pass from point lo point in the boundless universe. 

When your eyes are opened to tin 4 sublimities of 
eternity there will appeaVtoyou no longer any vacuum 
or void, no interstellar spares in the universe. Where 
now you imagine there is no life, you will find orders 
upon orders of intelligences, homes and habitations of 
spirit, all the universe being filled with thought and its 
expressions. Then when you have attained to the 
glorious states which hold sway oyer all planetary 
bodies, you will know the material center of gravity 
on .any earth is but the outermost expression of angelic 
thought, what you now term most real is only the fleet- 
ing shadow — the world of out ward sense being phan- 
tasmagoric, while the world iA' soul is alone real and 
eternal. 

Spencer says the origin of life is unknowable, and 
therefore he would notdaretocall it material. Matthew 
Arnold speaks of an eternal energy; the greatest as- 
tronomers, geologists and chemists that have ever lived 
have bowed reverently before the Divine < )ver soul and 
have acknowledged matter as only an expression of in- 
finite intelligence. 

Behind all phenomena is God. Man can never be 
educated out of his intuitive belief in spirit. "When you 
are prepared \'ov the teaohings angels are ready to give, 
when minds on earth are prepared to receive such in- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 33 

structions, yon will listen bo glowing words of truth 
vibrating from celestial homes through this earth's at- 
mosphere, filling your minds with truth eternal, giving 
you perfect knowledge of spirit. Spiritual involution 
will completely account for earthly evolution. Darwin 
may yet descend from the realm of spirit to write an- 
other " Origin of Species " in which you will find stated 
the descent of spirit as the nil sufficient cause of the 
ascent of life through material form. 



LESSON III. 



THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST, THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD — 
THE ESSENTIAL AND THE HISTORICAL CHRIST CON- 
TRASTED. 

IF OTJE conceptions of the Christ do not harmonize 
with the theological opinions of any persons who 
peruse this volume, they will please to remember that we 
do not consider the holding of our views upon the divin- 
ity of Christ as necessary to anyone's salvation, and 
therefore if you entertain views different from ours, ac- 
cording to the spiritual philosophy we are endeavoring 
to inculcate, you stand as good a chance of salvation, 
both in this world and in that which is to come, as 
though your views were precisely the same as ours. 
Now, belief rests upon evidence; no intelligent person 
can believe anything without sufficient evidence. If you 
believe in the presence of any material object it is because 
you rely upon the evidence of your bodily senses ; and be- 
fore you believe in the truth of any doctrine, it must be 
submitted to your intellect for consideration. Spiritual 
truth appeals to your conscience or moral sense and 
thus summons as its witness the divinest element of 
your being. When conclusions are arrived at by any 
speaker, writer, philosopher, or school of thought which 
are at variance with truth as it appeals to your indi- 

34 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 35 

vidual mind, you are not only not bound to agree with 
such teaching, but you are bound in duty, reason, and 
justice to disagree; we may, however, agree to disagree, 
or, more properly, to differ. Now, Ave regard all phases 
of human thought and feeling as natural expressions of 
human intelligence, and as doctrines concerning Deity, 
the divinity of Christ, the personality of the Holy 
Spirit, trinity in unity and unity in trinity, besides other 
kindred theological themes, too numerous to mention, 
may be justly catalogued among the most difficult prob- 
lems which can be presented to the human mind for solu- 
tion, the wonder is rather that there are comparatively 
so few differences in the world, than that there are so 
many; the wonder is that there are so few sects in 
Christendom rather than that there are so many; for 
though there are perhaps three hundred distinct Chris- 
tian sects, the majority of the sects are, broadly speaking, 
orthodox, as they agree to accept the divinity of Jesus, 
and the Trinity or tri-personality of God, even though 
all contend also for the divine unity. 

Universalists, and particularly Unitarians, have de- 
parted from the orthodox standard of Christendom by 
positively affirming that Jesus, though possibly supe- 
rior to all other men, was still only a man, and though 
the son of God, in the sense of being peculiarly divine 
through the nobility and purity of his nature, is not 
God the Son. If you are acquainted with church his- 
tory you are well aware that Servetus was put to death 
at the instigation of Calvin, because he would not 
acknowledge the incarnation of God in Jesus and 
persisted that Jesus was only the son of God while 
Calvin insisted that Jesus was God the Son; when 



3() SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

preparation was complete for the burning of that 
noble martyr, Calvin stood ready to doom his soul and 
body to everlasting flames because of this- difference- in 
theological opinion. The friends who gathered around 
Servetus urged him to confess that Jesus was God the 
Son, but he consistently prayed, u Jesus, thou son ol* 
the living God, have mercy upon me." That prayer, 
he knew, would not suffice, to save him from a terrible 
martyrdom; he must say " Jesus, thou Son of the living- 
God," no longer, but u Jesus, the living God," or there 
could be no salvation for him, either in this world or 
any other. He expired refusing to comply, and thus 
allowed himself to be offered as a holocaust to theo- 
logical intolerance. 

Now, as the doctrine of the absolute deity of Jesus 
is entirely distinct from the simple doctrine of his 
divinity, many people declare their belief in the divin- 
ity of mankind, in the divinity of natural law, and yet 
do not mean that they believe in the deity of man or of 
natural law; the word divine does not necessarily mean 
deific, " deilic," being a very much higher word in 
theological parlance than " divine." The divine soul in 
man is shared by all humanity, almost all philosophers 
believe in a divine human soul. Esoteric Buddhists call 
it Atma, and designate it the seventh principle. The 
divine soul is superior to the spiritual soul, and again 
the human soul is superior to the animal soul,in Buddhis- 
tic theosophy. In the first chapter of the fourth Gos- 
pel, we are introduced to a learned dissertation upon 
the Logos or divine Word ; the Gnostics of the early 
Christian Church declared the Logos to be the in- 
dwelling word, revealing the will or law of God in 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 37 

every human heart. Now it is quite possible to inter- 
pret the divine sonship of Jesus in such a light as to in- 
clude the divine sonship of all humanity. And while 
departing from the ordinary theological standards and 
rejecting the canons of interpretation which are re- 
garded as alone sound in the orthodox Christian world, 
we may profitably interpret the Gospel of John as a 
spiritual disquisition concerning the spiritual nature of 
the universe and man, rathei than as a historical 
narrative. Let us remove this subject entirely out of 
that petty, arbitrary and quarrelsome realm, to which, 
unfortunately, it is so often degraded, and from the noble 
height of spiritual contemplation see Jesus standing 
before us not as a mythical personage, or a solar myth, nor 
as a man mysteriously endowed with a nature foreign 
to that of all other human beings, but as one who has 
run the race which we are now engaged in running, 
won the prize for which we are now fighting, already 
wearing the crown which shall forever rest upon the 
brow of each of you when you have accomplished your 
spiritual warfare as he long ago accomplished his. 

Jesus in history represents whoever has overcome 
the world; he says to his disciples, "Be of good cheer, 
1 have overcome the world.'' If he has overcome the 
world you also will overcome, because he has overcome 
it ; because he lives you will live also; because he has 
entered into the heavens you will also enter into them ; 
because he has ascended to his Father, who is also your 
Father, therefore you will also ascend. 

Thus in the true light in which the New Testament 
story presents Jesus to mankind, he does not stand to 
us in the relation of an incarnate deity, a super angelic 



38 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

personage, or one belonging to a divine order of beings 
altogether separated from humanity, but he appears 
simply in the light of one who has graduated with the 
highest honors from the school of earthly discipline, 
one who has learned every lesson that can be learned 
on this planet, one who has completed the circle of 
embodiments on this orb, one who has passed beyond 
the need of further discipline, and has therefore en- 
tered that realm of absolute spiritual being which is the 
true home of every soul. 

Now, many say, is it not strange that out of the 
records of past history you should be able to gather 
sufficient materials for an ideal character? Is not our 
ideal in the future rather than in the past ? Is not the 
glorious Eden-time in advance instead of in the rear? Is 
it not true that to-morrow will surpass to-day in spirit- 
ual advancement ? Is not to-day in advance of yester- 
day? In affirming that one who lived 1,800 or 1,900 
years ago had already attained to spiritual perfection, 
are you not denying evolution, which demonstrates an 
incessant improvement of species and progress of man- 
kind ? 

We answer, we are not denying advancement in any 
sense; but the progress of universal mankind has certainly 
been indicated or outlined by the special attainments 
of exceptional Messiahs or Avatars who have blessed 
the world in ancient days, souls who have periodically 
visited like spiritual comets different nations of eartn, 
wandering like spiritual stars over the spiritual firma- 
ment of many climes, in many ages, prophesying of 
universal human attainment. 

Occasionally upon the tree of human life a fruit has 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 39 

appeared fully ripened ; that thoroughly ripened speci- 
men has been gathered into the celestial kingdom ; the 
remainder of the fruit is yet green. Here and 
there in life's harvest field a golden sheaf has fully 
ripened, and that sheaf has been gathered in. These 
ripened sheaves are first fruits, which have already 
been waved in the temple as an earnest of the abundant 
harvests which are to follow. 

Jesus attained to perfection ; he expired physically 
upon the cross with the words upon his lips, " It is fin- 
ished;" and you realize that the majority of human 
beings pass away with the thought in their minds, "my 
work is unfinished," they feeling almost invariably that 
there is much work for them still to do, and if they 
could only live their life over they could improve that 
life in every respect. A great deal of the fear of 
death, of reluctance or unwillingness to take the step 
into the unseen state is occasioned by a reeling that 
earthly tasks are not finished, duties appear unfulfilled, 
conquests yet need to be won, many talents have not 
been utilized. In contrast to all this, can you not imagine 
something of the glor\ 7 of a soul that can pass from 
earth exclaiming, " My work is finished?" Not fin. 
ished for eternity, but finished for time; not finished 
with regard to all the blazing worlds in space, but fin_ 
ished with regard to this planet; not finished in re. 
gard to my total spiritual mission, which will occup} r 
me throughout eternity, but perfectly finished with re- 
gard to this planet. Jesus is reported to have said, 
" For a certain cause came I into the world." He 
declared he could not leave the world until this work 
was done. He stands before us all in history as a perfect 
representation of human perfection; 



40 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

You who have studied "The Light of Asia" as 
interpreted to Englishspeaking readers by Edwin 
Arnold in his charming poem bearing this title, or 
"the Great Renunciation," will remember that Buddha 
attained to Nirvana, or the state of absolute spiritual 
blessedness (perfect oneness with Deity) before he 
quitted the material form. This leads us to ask, Is it not 
possible in this earthly school that once in a while a 
scholai should graduate with highest possible honors? 
That once in a while we should behold a f oregleam of 
the utmost possibilities of humanity? Is it not possible 
that here and there some great and regal spirit should 
appear before you and willingly take upon himself 
all material discipline in order that humanity may be 
uplifted, and then discover at last that there is no vica- 
rious atonement in the orthodox sense of the term, 
but that every one who willingly lays down his life for 
another's good lays it down for himself as well as for 
others? The greatest difficulty which has ever be- 
set theological controversialists is the difficulty of vica- 
rious suffering. Now we all see that there is much 
vicarious suffering in the world. Many suffer for the 
good of others. Martyrs have been put to death and 
many future generations have been benefited by their 
martyrdom. Warriors and soldiers have willingly shed 
the last drop of their life blood for their countrymen, and 
their patriotism has been rewarded in the salvation of 
the nation for which they died. But if you follow 
such into spiritual life you will find that no deed of her- 
oism, no act of patriotism, no willingness to suffer lor 
the sake of humanity has ever left the sufferers unre- 
warded. Each soul has suffered for its own advance- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 41 

ment, even though unacknowledged, as well as for 
others; and in enduring suffering with no thought of 
self, heroes have reached the sublimest heights of unself- 
ishness and are thereby placed above all need for fur- 
ther encounter with difficulty for the last demon you 
have to conquer is selfishness; the last enemy you must 
put under your feet is the devil of personal pride and 
human ambition ; the last sin that is finally dislodged 
from the human breast is the love of one's self more 
than one's neighbor. When divine love for humanity 
is fully manifest in any individual, when any are will- 
ing to lay down their life for the world regardless of 
consequences to themselves, not looking for happiness 
hereafter or thinking anything about reward, but only 
desiring to work for humanity, demanding no recom- 
pense, doing good for the love of it — when any soul 
reaches such a point in its advancement, w^e care not 
whether the man or woman is an avowed atheist or 
theist, whether the mind is spiritualistic or materialistic 
in its external proclivities, we care not whether such are 
members of any church or advocates of any religious 
system they may worship in a cathedral or in-the open 
air,orthey may not recognize that there is any need for 
outward worship in the universe; we care not whether 
such individuals sat on thrones on earth or begged 
bread from door to door, in such do we behold a true 
manifestation of divine life. 

True spirituality is not a question of head, brain or 
intellect, neither is it one of theology, or of belief in a 
life to come. It is altogether a question of being so truly 
imbued with divine life that } T ou love a million of your 
neighbors a million times better than you love yourself. 



42 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



If you love each of your neighbors as well as you love 
yourself, you must love two neighbors twice as well as 
yourself, and the great bulk of humanity as many times 
better than you love yourself, as the mass contains 
more units than one. 

As the bulk of humanity is composed of units, each 
one must be as valuable as yourself in the sight of the 
Eternal and you are not established fully in truth till 
you look at humanity from the divine standpoint. 

There is certainly in history an ideal life, and we 
do not hesitate to affirm that no one could ever have 
written the life of a nobler man than ever lived, for 
had tli ere been no materials to furnish the story there 
could have been no record. You can not portray a char- 
acter nobler than your own conception of it. You can 
not paint a picture beyond your highest conception of 
art. You can .not compose music transcending your high- 
est genius. If there is a lack anywhere it is always in 
the outward form, for tins can not surpass what is in 
the author's mind. The author's mind is, however, fre- 
quently above the book he writes. Therefore if an 
author presents you with a hero who dazzles you by 
the splendor of his soul, that hero whose life is written 
is not so great a hero as the hero who was an actual 
reality to the author. If anyone sings a song ever so 
divinely, that song is not so divine in its rendition as 
it is in the spirit that is beyond all outward interpre- 
tation. 

So, when, after reading a life of Buddha or of Jesus 
the Christ, you have asked, "But did such a man as 
Buddha ever exist ? Was there ever anyone on earth so 
good as he? Anyone who voluntarily gave up all the 



Spiritual therapeutics. 43 

splendors of an empire to identify himself with suffer- 
ing humanity? Was there ever anyone so pure as Jesus 
of Nazareth? " 

The answer is emphatically yes. The theory that 
Jesus is a solar myth and the twelve apostles twelve 
signs of the zodiac, is utterly inadequate to account for 
the moral and spiritual side of the narrative as all rea- 
sonable people must be well aware. AVe admit that in 
ancient days the sun was the chosen symbol of divine 
life and. light; but when the Egyptians paid adoration 
to the god of day they did not according to esoteric 
teachings, bow before the material orb we call the sun, 
but before the mighty angel Osiris, who dwelt in the 
sun. And when they turned their eyes in worship to 
Alcyone the center of the Pleiades they declared that 
central orb in the universe to be the abode of the high- 
est intelligence which could be made manifest to human 
comprehension. 

Solar worship was not idolatry, not materialism, but 
sprang from recognition of every world in space being 
the result of spiritual laws and operations. "When you 
turn your eyes to the spheres above you, contemplate 
the stars, and strive to number the constellated worlds 
shining in the midnight heavens, each star a sun blazing 
forth in glory with planets and satellites revolving 
around it in the depths of space, remember that this is 
not the only inhabited world; we are not the only con- 
scious intelligent beings looking out upon the glorious 
night. Every star and every sun is, was, or will be 
inhabited, every satellite bears some form of life, and 
according to the grandeur of the sun, the majesty of 
the planet, or the development of the satellite is the 
developed life thereon. 



44 ' SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

When the old system of solar worship, which a large 
number of people are to-day bringing forward as proof 
that there was no personal Christ, no personal Buddha, 
no personal Osiris, no living Messiahs and Avatars in. 
ancient days is understood and interpreted in the light 
of the spirit, it will be found to mean next to nothing 
of what it is supposed to mean by the school of Dupuis 
and others who declare it to be nothing beyond exter- 
nal worship of celestial orbs. Every world is a mani- 
festation of mind. In a higher stage of the world's de- 
velopment men will be able to navigate the air, and even- 
tually on wings of spirit to pass from planet to planet. 
Observatories will some day be erected upon earth's 
hilltops, and there, by means of powerful instruments of 
observation, entirely unknown to you and impossible in 
your present state of development, you will behold the 
condition of other worlds and know absolutely of this 
earth's relation to other realms in space; you will at 
length perceive those who at the close of any cycle have 
passed on (numbering 144,000, in mystical Apocalyptic 
numeration), have passed from the earth to the next 
planet. It is to the planet Mars that you must turn to- 
day for illumination from those who have graduated 
from the earth and have passed to comparatively celes- 
tial states. 

We introduce these remarks into this lesson because 
of the opportunity they afford for reconciling what a 
great many people imagine to be irreconcilable state- 
ments concerning the rise and fall of nations. We tell 
you the very ground upon which you now tread was 
once occupied by intellectual giants in comparison to 
which you are pigmies; that the civilization of pre- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 45 

historic California was far beyond its civilization to-day, 
and that when through natural changes wrought by up- 
heavals on the Pacific Slope, ancient centers of civiliza- 
tion Avere entombed, the immortalized inhabitants hav- 
ing developed out of material conditions passed on to 
the next planet, and now shine down upon you from the 
sphere of Mars. 

Whenever one cycle of advancement is completed 
anywhere a new era commences. The future of this 
world will witness the absolute spiritualization of the 
entire earth. The future golden age will include in its 
blessings every human being. The culminations of the 
most exalted prophesy, will be seen in the perfection of 
the entire planet and all upon it. In the past, here 
and there, there have been seen expressions of what 
the world and humanity will at length attain to, and 
these expressions have been the essential Christ within 
humanity revealing itself externally. Many persons 
constantly use the word God in reading the Bible as 
though there were only one original equivalent for God, 
whereas every one who can interpret Scripture with the 
light thrown upon it by an accurate knowledge of 
Hebrew, understands "that the word God is used in 
three if not more senses. You are told that no man 
hath seen God at any time. God in this place means 
the Eternal One, the Infinite Being who is utterly in- 
visible and beyond all outward recognition. You are 
told in the first and second commandments of the dec- 
alogue that there is no form known to man which may 
be termed the form of God, you conclude then, God is 
not in human form, because if God were in human 
form then the form of God would be known. God the 



46 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Eternal, self-existent Being has never been seen bv 
man, the form of God is not known. Madam Blavat- 
sky in her " Isis Unveiled " comes much nearer to a 
correct interpretation of the highest thought concerning 
Deity than do those whose theology is pro tray ed by 
Gustave Dore in his celebrated picture of the Trinity, 
which represents God as an older man, a younger man 
and a dove. The older man is called the Father, the 
younger man the Son, and the dove the Holy Spirit. In 
an eternal trinity there can be no senior and junior per- 
sons, but there can be an older and a newer manifesta- 
tion of God; thus in a secondary sense a conception of 
God in human form is not inaccurate as the Infinite 
Being is revealed to man through humanity and can be 
revealed in no other manner. 

In an inferior sense the word God has been used to 
signify a mighty angel, the ruler of the planet. There- 
fore though God the Eternal has never been seen by 
man, the representative or messenger of Deity, the 
special angel who reveals God to the world has been 
seen. In a third and yet lower sense of the word God, 
you read in the "New Testament that they were called 
gods upon whom the spirit of God came ; in ancient 
days they were also called sons of God and sons of 
God were often called gods. In early chapters of the 
Bible you are told that sons of God inter-married with 
daughters of men. Who were these sons of God ? They 
were members of those ancient orders at the head of 
which stood the order of Melchisidec, sons of light, or 
sons of the sun, they were called in ancient Egypt. 
Now if those peculiarly endowed and highly privileged 
persons inter-married with earthly women, not for the 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 47 

purpose of spiritually refining them but for purposes of 
material gratification, those who belonged to the higher 
orders in spirit degraded themselves without elevating 
those with whom they became united. The fallen an- 
gels of theology are only those who were appointed to 
a higher mission, but fell through false ambition, while 
the unfallen are those commissioned with a divine and 
glorious authority who have been faithful to their trust 
and never diverged in the slightest degree from that 
high and holy mission appointed them. 

Two Adams appear in the Bible — a first Adam and 
a second Adam. One Adam is of the earth earthy, 
the Adam who fell is called the first Adam, while the 
Adam who restored the loss caused by the fall of the 
first is called in the New Testament the second Adam. 
Christ is called the second Adam, but Christ esoterically 
means the higher principle in man which redeems the 
lower. JSTow the Adam of early days interpreted spir- 
itually signifies the human soul in its primal innocence, 
but the soul in a condition of ignorance, not yet having 
encountered the trials and temptations of earth. This 
state may be termed celestial infancy, spiritual baby- 
hood ; and is like to a child reclining upon the mother's 
breast, pure and spotless. You call it an immaculate 
little darling, not knowing the difference between right 
and wrong, or good and evil, but while you cannot 
attribute sin to the child, still do you wish your child to 
remain a child forever? The child must grow up to 
man's or woman's estate, must go out into the world 
and encounter every form of temptation, for it is temp- 
tation that tries the power of the spirit. Therefore 
when upon the heights of Calvary, Jesus with triumph 



/ 



48 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

exclaims, " It is finished," and he is identified with 
the second Adam, he represents the soul that has 
finished its earthly course, having put matter with all 
its tern ptations forever beneath his feet. The soul which 
has vanquished every earthly trial and arisen victorious 
on the wings of spiritual effort and self sacrifice is 
above the need of painful discipline forever after. 

The Christ of history and theology is more than 
the personal Jesus, being the representative of ideal- 
ized and glorified humanity. What Jesus has already 
become you will all in future ages attain unto. 

The divine Logos or Word is " The light that en- 
lighteneth every man that cometh into the world," 
and is therefore not a person but the spiritual prin- 
ciple in humanity which personality must at length 
make manifest. 

Now, if the divine Word were confined to the 
personal Jesus, how could it illumine every man that 
cometh into the world ? If salvation depended upon 
knowledge of a personal Christ, since Jesus was on 
earth but thirty -three years at one period in the 
world's history, it would be utterty impossible for 
hundreds of millions of human beings to be saved, 
because the}^ could have no opportunity of knowing 
that such a person as Jesus ever lived. Bishop Thomas, 
an eminent Methodist, has declared that he does not 
believe in the necessary damnation of the heathen, 
and says he could not carry any Christianity to the 
heathen if he felt that Christianity compelled him 
to teach such an infamous doctrine as the damna- 
tion of the heathen, who had no opportunity to be 
saved. This view may be regarded as representative 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 4$ 

of all enlightened Christian teaching, which is to the 
effect that only willful rejection of truth is an un- 
pardonable offense. 

But if belief in an individual Christ is not neces- 
sary to the redemption of the world, if heathens and 
Jews can be saved as well as Christians, if Mohame- 
dans and Buddhists can go into the Kingdom of 
Heaven together, then what is essential to salvation? 

The essential Christ is the divine life within you, 
your own divine soul, which is the candle of the 
Lord burning upon the candlestick of }^our moral 
nature ; and, as salvation does not depend upon be- 
lief in historical records, neither upon trust in a per- 
son, it does depend upon following this divine light. 
And, as salvation depends entirely upon following 
the divine light, you can readily understand how 
Jesus taught a gospel totally distinct from that gos- 
pel in which his name has been disfigured instead 
of glorified by popular Christianity. Jesus said, 
Many shall say to him at the judgment, "Lord, 
Lord" who will not enter into the kingdom of 
heaven. 

The only passport into the Kingdom of Heaven is 
the passport of charity, morality and justice expressed 
by ministering to one's fellow beings. Surely an Athe- 
ist can feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give conso- 
lation to the sick and distressed and visit those in prison. 
Does not Jesus say those who have done these things 
shall be upon the right hand, those who have not shall 
be upon the left. 

The way of salvation laid down by the gospel proves 
that a true following of Christ signifies becoming imbued 



50 SPIRITUAL TfiEftAPEUTICS. 

with the spirit of truth in love. It is utterly apart 
from theological controversy, and depends solely on 
following the divine voice within the soul. 

We declare there is no one upon earth who has not 
the divine candle within; no one who has not heard the 
voice of the true Christ; no one who has not been ap- 
pealed to by the angel side of li is own nature; no one 
who is not invited to become a member of the body of 
Christ. When Paul said there are many members but 
one body, and even so is the Christ, did he not say that 
the Christ was the compact body, the spiritual organiza- 
tion of true, tried and faithful souls? 

Jesus may have represented the head to Paul, 
Buddha representing the head to many Asiatics; Osiris 
may have represented the head to the ancient Egyptians 
in some older dispensation scarcely known to history ; 
other lights whose names are unrecorded ma}^ have 
represented the Christ to those who lived in pre-historic 
antiquity ; still the Christ ever represents the sphere of 
perfected souls, and the light shines down from the 
celestial heavens pulsing ever earthward until it reaches 
to the outermost boundaries of human perception. The 
Christ of antiquity, the spiritually endowed, the truth- 
bringer, the truth-teller is not confined to person or to 
age but is the one divine life made manifest to all hu- 
manity. 

We do not urge upon any one to accept a historical 
manifestation of Christ if they have difficulty in doing 
so on account of the paucity of evidence. No one should 
be required to accept anything as spiritual truth which 
hisown soulisnot capable of discovering for itself. Ex- 
ternal authority must be displaced in favor of interior 
conviction. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 51 

We are often asked concerning the position of Jesus 
in the spiritual world. We state that it has been given 
to earth on the testimony of the most exalted intelli- 
gences who have ever communicated with man, that 
Jesus occupies, as an individual soul, a place of peculiar 
exaltation in the spiritual heavens overshadowing the 
earth. If many do not know of Jesus in spirit life, 
they are simply in ignorance concerning him. But Ave 
would urge upon you all when dealing with communi- 
cations of a negative character, no matter where they 
come from, to remember that negative testimony is not 
accepted in any court of law, only affirmative testimony 
is considered of value. If one honorable, upright person 
whose word need not be doubted, goes into court and 
states that he knows such and such a thing to be true, 
the testimony of that one person is considered of in- 
finitely more value than the negative utterance of a 
million persons, who know nothing whatever of the 
matter under consideration. If one person, whose 
veracity is unquestioned positively affirms anything, 
his testimony is accepted and from it jury and judge 
alike consider and decide. So it is ever with regard to 
spiritual truth and the higher aspects of spiritual teach- 
ing; not what the majority do not know, but what the 
minority know and are able to impart intelligently is the 
measure of spiritual truth favorably considered by an in- 
telligent community. 

We have encountered many — yes, we say " many" 
advisedly — who have absolute knowledge that Jesus 
now exists in the spiritual world and that he is an ex- 
alted being. We can not then be so foolish as to say that 
he does not exist, which would be equivalent to putting 



52 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

out our own spiritual eyes because somebody else can not 
see, or destroying our own spiritual ears because some- 
body else, can not hear. 

True charity demands no false compromises. We 
cannot depend for evidence upon what is not known 
or not revealed; but all should be ever on the alei't at 
all times and everywhere to receive the. very utmost 
that can be received from the spiritual heavens within 
and without man on earth. 

The gospel of Jesus stands, however, without refer- 
ence to his personality as the very highest truth ever 
embodied i n literature. We can surely all maintain that 
if we live in accordance with that gospel, obey those 
precepts, and conduct commercial transactions in har- 
mony with the Golden Rule,the world will soon become 
a paradise. We would rejoice to see merchants put it 
to the test, and then give an opinion. The trouble 
between labor and capital is all because the Golden 
Rule is not obeyed. There can be no settlement in 
case of strikes and other labor agitation favorable to both 
sides and to all humanity until the Golden Rule solves 
the problem of labor and its relation to capital. 

The deepest significance of the Golden Rule is, that 
you feel toward others as you would have others feel 
toward you, but there are unfortunately a large num- 
ber of people who are willing to let their religion lie in 
the realm of sentiment without putting it into practice 
such people will readily say, " Oh, yes, you should feel 
kindly toward eveyone," but while they accept truth, 
theoretically, they are not willing to translate it into 
action. Jesus found this condition among the people 
whom he distinctly taught that sentiment was not suf- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 53 

ficient, religion must be taken out of the realm of sen- 
timent and become a part of every-day life, the high- 
est spiritual convictions are useless until practiced. 
Jesus practically interpreted convictions in this life, 
and thus earned immortal qualities. 

. Because Jesus is the son of God is no proof that 
others are not sons of God. Because light shone in 
Palestine. 2,000 years ago is no proof that there 
cannot be a spiritual revelation in this day or in future 
times. 

We maintain that the teachings attributed to Jesus 
are intrinsically valuable. We do not care whether 
they were uttered by him in Palestine 2,000 years 
ago or in an ante-deluvian country 20,000 years ago. 
If the teachings now on record are put in practice the 
world will be saved and redeemed, and if those teach- 
ings are not practiced all the belief in the world, all 
the baptism in the world, all the reception of sacra- 
ments, all the preaching possible will fail to redeem 
humanity. You must eat and drink spiritual truth. 
You must eat the flesh and drink the blood — that is, 
your daily life must become one with that spirit of 
truth which was made specially manifest in the higher 
teachers of humanity. 

Jesus as an historical personage we decidely believe 
in as one who lived in harmony with the highest law ; 
and the same highest law is now in existence — the law 
of love. The highest teachings now given to the world, 
are in response to human needs. Let there be no hos- 
tility between Jew and gentile ; no dispute as to 
whether Moses or Jesus are personages, the teaching is 
true in principle, inspirit it is now here and can stand 
upon its merit. Whatever has demerit must fall, because 



/ 



54 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

of inherent inperfection and from ho other cause. 
Carping critics who can not interpret the beauty and 
sublimity of the gospel would pick flaws in the charac- 
ter of an angel far more quickly than in an ordinary 
mortal, because angelical dispositions are not so much 
in harmony with their affections. \ Every one admires 
most whatever is most in accord with his own standard 
of excellence; and as every one has a standard of his 
own you must perceive the highest standard in order 
to truly admire the highest teachings. Therefore it is 
a compliment to Jesus, to the gospel and to all highest 
expressions of spiritual truth when sensual people 
throw dust and discredit upon them. Was there ever 
a martyr or reformer, man or woman, who stood above 
the age, who was not persecuted by those who could 
not comprehend them? They who have lived in advance 
of their time have ever been termed in league with 
Satan. Because Jesus proclaimed the higher truth he 
was said to be under the influence of Beelzebub, the 
prince of Devils. Later on Galileo and Copernicus 
were called fools and fanatics, so with all great reform- 
ers and inventors; until the world has grown up to their 
plane of thought it reviles them. Spiritual truths are 
often under a ban, but truth must conquer, and that 
perfect light which is in each one, the ideal life will 
eventually include in its embrace the entire family of 
man. Then will the great body of the Christ be re- 
vealed. Then will all be one in spirit and at length 
visibly constitute one great united family. 

Personalities will no longer be objects of worship, 
but the perfection of spirit made manifest through all 
mankind will constitute the perfect coming of the 
Christ in the ultimation of God's kingdom upon earth, 



LESSON IV. 



EVIL AND ITS REMEDY. 



T 



IHE following discourse is in answer to numerous 
questions concerning the Devil, evil spirits, demon- 
iacal possession, obsession, causes of insanity and many 
subjects of like nature concerning which we have been 
literally deluged with inquiries. We trust the reader 
will find in the next few pages a reasonable exposition 
of our view of evil and its remedy. 

That belief in an outside devil or in some evil spirits 
exterior to man, is widespread none will deny, and that 
there is, in a certain sense, valid ground for supposing 
the existence of extraneous diabolical agencies scarcely 
needs arguing; at the same time we can not see how 
any theory of a personal devil can help to solve the 
great problem of the ages, the mystery of seeming evil. 
The very watchword of metaphysicians is," All is good ; 
there is no evil,'' and so startling is this affirmation to 
the ears of many, that, having heard it proclaimed, they 
turn away in resentment from the only system of 
thought which can possibly explain the riddle of exist- 
ence in harmony with the idea of infinite love and wis- 
dom as supreme in the universe. 

Now, very many orthodox or semi-orthodox persons 
who can not endorse Calvinism with its frightful doc- 
trine of election and reprobation, endeavor to explain 

55 



56 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

the existence of evil in man by reference to an outside 
prince of darkness, who injects evil and irreverent 
thoughts into the human mind. They consider it fearful 
to contemplate evil as inherent in man. Their view of 
human nature is too bright and lenient to permit of their 
attributing evil to man directly. They therefore indulge 
in the subterfuge of a scape-goat, and argue from 
Scripture, poetry and philosophy to prove the exist- 
ence of a veritable personal devil, whose manceuvers 
are so incessant and effectual that man is constrained 
against himself, and contrary to his own desires, to 
eschew good and practice evil. 

Such a theory is at once illogical, nonsensical and 
pernicious, as we will now endeavor, as briefly as 
possible, to prove, and, as believers in the sacred- 
ness of the Bible are frequently inclined to favor 
such a ridiculous conclusion, before directing our 
gaze elsewhere, we will take up seriatim, the script- 
ural narrative on which the devil theory is usually 
based. 

The second chapter of Genesis is ordinarily ap- 
pealed to, to sustain the theory of the personality 
of the source of evil in the world, the metaphorical 
serpent being usually considered as his Satanic Maj- 
esty in the guise of a talking snake. This narra- 
tive, when intelligently interpreted, however, gives 
no sanction at all to such a theory ; on the contrary, 
it completely refutes it. Four characters are intro- 
duced to us by whoever was the author of this very 
ancient allegory, which the Jews probably derived 
partly from Egyptian and partly from Persian sources. 
We are told of God and His divine voice, of a male 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 57 

Adam', a female Eve, and a representative of a sub- 
human kingdom, who, in the form of a reptile, un- 
dertook to dissuade Eve and Adam from obeying 
the divine counsel, promising them knowledge and 
bliss as the fruit of disobedience. 

. Now, a careful analysis of the four characters 
already referred to will prove to our satisfaction that 
these four actors are ever present on the stage of 
human life. God is revealed to us through our in- 
terior nature, through the moral sense or conscience, 
of which none are wdiolly destitute, though it is quite 
conceivable that primitive or barbaric races have little 
if any conception of this light. Eve, an interior prin- 
ciple, though not the innermost of all, stands for 
human affections ; while Adam, the external man, 
represents the intellect. The serpent is none other 
than the animal or lower self-hood. 

Now all these elements are intrinsically good. Evil 
is inverted good, and besides inverted good, there is 
no evil. Evil then, has no real existence; it has no 
fundamental principle ; it is not, but simply appears 
to be. 

Inversion occurs only when the affections are led 
downward and outward, instead of upward and inward, 
at the solicitation of the animal proclivities, and thus 
the only devil (old Saxon de evil) there is, is inordinate 
self-love, which means a disregard of the monitions of 
the higher nature in order to satisfy the lower. 

This view of the serpent of temptation is at once rec- 
oncilable with anthropology and common sense. Who 
is there who has not felt the promptings of a higher 
and lower nature? Who lias not felt the counter 



58 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



influence of good and evil genii? Paul, in the seventh 
chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, sets forth the 
inner conflict with amazing accuracy. After 1,800 
years the world still feels that what that wonderfully 
gifted Roman lawyer, Saul of Tarsus, experienced, every 
one experiences now, unless it be that some are so 
blunt , so dead to all higher impulses, that, living 
wholly in the senses, they know nothing of the con- 
flict, which can not be said to rage where no contrast of 
the opposites is presented to the understanding. 

We venture to declare that there is not a child in 
any school or family who can not be brought up to 
rightly interpret the story of the fall and subsequent 
elevation of man, for just what every little one under- 
goes physically exactly corresponds to what he must 
pass through mentally and morally. Conflict is essen- 
tial to growth; without it there could be no growth, no 
development of moral character. Intellectual great- 
ness is inconceivable apart from effort, and so is moral 
growth. 

Now the symbol of the serpent is a singularly ex- 
pressive and appropriate symbol of man's lower nature, 
as being the most subtle of all earthly creatures, and 
yet a creeping thing. It suggests immediately a some- 
thing at once attractive and repellent; a something 
good enough in its own way, and in its own place, but 
exceedingly dangerous when permitted to usurp the 
throne of the affections, and thence domineer over 
human intellect, using it as a servant of sense, when it 
should ever be the faithful follower of spirit. 

Serpents are mentioned in the first chapter of Gen- 
esis, in which earliest account of creation we are 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 59 

informed that God created creeping things and blessed 
them. Reptiles were included in the work of the 
Almighty, which He blessed. The Eternal, we are 
told, looked with complacent delight upon primitive 
man, in whom were all the lower kingdoms, and the 
lower kingdoms themselves were pleasant in the divine 
eyes. Evil is in man, but what afterward appears as 
evil is originally good, and only becomes evil after a 
conscious act of inversion on the part of man. 

All temptation to error comes through the affec- 
tions, therefore, it is said, the woman tempted man, 
and caused him to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. 
The woman Eve stands for the affectional impulses, 
which are the desires and wishes of our nature. Our 
will is not in intellect, but in affection ; therefore, the 
old word "heart'' is used instead of mind when temp- 
tation is alluded to in Scripture : " Keep thy heart 
with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life," 
signifies, be especially careful as to the bent of your 
affections, while " out of the abundance of the heart 
the mouth speaketh," means that all our conversation 
and conduct proceeds not from our intellectual convic- 
tions or beliefs, but from our }oves. 

Our loves make us what we are. While, in a 
sense, it is strictly true that as a man thinketh, so 
he is, it is plainer and deeper truth that as a man 
loveth, and therefore willeth or desireth, so he is. 

To deny the freedom of the human will in toto 
is to advocate a barbarous fatalism, so subversive of 
human weal as to conduce to the justification of every 
possible crime and misdemeanor, and surely the intent 
of all would-be reformers is to purge the world of 



60 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

wickedness, to rescue the evil-doer from the clutches 
of iniquity, reform the sinner, and thus effectually 
protect and elevate society. 

Those who say that reverence is natural to man, 
while the devil is always irreverent, and make like 
assertions, prove themselves ignorant of the entire 
nature of man as expressed on earth. The. spiritual 
or interior nature is the good genius of our human 
intellect, and is forever urging us to a higher and 
nobler state. Reverence is our love for a superior 
state, and manifests the attraction which the heavens 
within have for the thinking and reflecting mind; 
while irreverence is occasioned by the seductions of 
the lower nature, which is always leading us to the 
hells or inferior states of our animal existence. 

When Paul advised the Corinthians to be on their 
guard lest the serpent which beguiled Eve also beguile 
them, he did not refer to a talking snake, which would 
be a curiosity to-day in any menagerie, nor to a snake 
which walked uprightly, and was afterward con- 
demned to crawl, nor to a fallen angel who, in the simil- 
itude of an enticing reptile, parleyed with our first 
parents in a terrestrial , paradise. He simply warned 
them against being led away from higher things by 
the seducing charms of external nature ; and thus he 
told them to ever be sober and vigilant, lest the inward 
adversary should lead them, when off their guard^ 
into the flowery but dangerous paths of sensuous enjoy- 
ment, when duty or moral obligation called upon them 
to heed a higher call and follow a diviner lead. 

We deny that the sensual nature is an evil nature ; 
it is a lower nature, good after its kind, but good in a 



SPIRITUAL TIIEKAl'KUTTCS. 61 

lesser Uegree than the intellectual, as the intellectual in 
its turn is good in a lesser degree than the moral or 
spiritual nature; it is a good and useful servant, but 
an atrocious and tyrannical master. Rightful subordi- 
nation of the lower to the higher instincts makes man 
an angel, while inordinate development makes him a 
devil, and the only devil there is, no better definition 
of which has ever been given than the old Latin sen- 
tence, Demon est Deus inversus. We see then at once 
how in the absolute sense there is no evil, evil being 
a condition, a state, but not the inherent nature of 
anything. 

Infinite Good is the sole creator, and man makes 
evil out of good, by turning good upside down. It is 
then in his power to repent and be converted, and his 
conversion is his act which turns the good he has in- 
verted right side up again. This spiritual truth is also 
a truth of reason, and can be amply sustained and 
aptly illustrated by phrenology, physiognomy, and all 
kindred external sciences, which, like thermometers 
and barometers, reveal the condition of the mind whose 
emotions they portray. A student of phrenology plaees 
before him a chart of the human head upon which he 
sees delineated the various organs of the brain. In the 
frontal or coronal regions he beholds such words as 
benevolence, conscientiousness, etc., indicating the 
noblest propensities, but toward the base of the brain, 
and at the back of the head, he reads destructiveness, 
secreti veness, amativeness, etc. Now, if he be ignor- 
ant, he will at first assume that the utter suppression 
of the lower faculties, even to the point of their anni- 
hilation, is necessary to the development of a lovely 



62 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

character, and following this mistaken trend of thought, 
multitudes of self-immolating fanatics have sought in 
vain to attain the highest heaven here on earth, as well 
as after the body's dissolution, by torturing their lower 
propensities out of existence. 

Science and reason interpose to say subordinate, do 
not destroy, for the hells in man must ever be rendered 
subject to the heavens in man, that divine order and 
harmony may prevail. To rein in the lower instincts, 
to make them utterly submissive to higher loves, is the 
only way to round out a graceful and delightful charac- 
ter. What Ave call evil then is lower good, and is there- 
fore not evil, evil in actual sense being only possible 
when a perverse inclination disposes one to subordinate 
conviction to appetite, thereby reversing the divine 
order which is that appetite should be subdued by rea- 
son, and intellect become the servant and exponent of 
the divine innermost in man, which is called sometimes 
the essential ego, and sometimes the atma in theosophic- 
al and other explanatory treatises. 

Now, having thus far very briefly given a glance at 
the serpent, who generally is regarded as the devil in 
orthodox circles, let us turn to the satan in the Book of 
Job, and see whether we can not account for that mys- 
terious personage without having recourse to any- 
mythical object of mediaeval superstition, such as many 
theologians offer for our acceptance. 

In the Hebrew rendering of the Massoretic text (we 
mean that translation which is commonly used when 
the Scriptures are read in English, or referred to in that 
tongue in Jewish synagogues), the word Satan is miss- 
ing, its place being occupied by the word accuser, a 
word, which, in its original sense, has undoubtedly 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 63 

reference to the ancient idea of an accusing angel whose 
mission it was to arraign evil doers before the bar of 
divine justice. There can be but little doubt that in 
Egyptian and other ancient allegories the accuser was 
nothing other than what we are accustomed to call 
accusing conscience, conscience offended, which, when 
it raises its protesting voice, to use Shakespeare's im- 
mortal phrase, " makes cowards of us all." This same 
conscience, when it speaks approvingly, makes heroes of 
us all. 

JSTow, the two personages who appear in ancient 
allegories as recording angels are probably in their 
deepest ethical significance two aspects of conscience. 
In the first case conscience, as the approving angeL, 
smiles on all well-doers ; in the other instance this same 
conscience, as the accusing angel, frowns upon evil 
doers and evil doings. Everybody loves the approval, 
and hates the disapproval of conscience. Whatever 
conscience is, it is invariably beloved, courted, encour- 
aged w r hen it smiles, while all possible measures are 
resorted to, to deaden and silence it when it utters a 
protesting word. 

Now, in fighting against this accuser or adversary 
within, man is fighting against his best and truest 
friend, as he eventually discovers often to his own most 
bitter cost. Just as it is with inward conscience, or the 
moral sense we endeavor to stifle, should it upbraid, so 
it is Avith all extraneous influences which bear upon us 
and pronounce judgment on our acts. Many a man has 
been reduced to ignominy and disgrace by the flatter- 
ies of mistaken friends, while the bitter though whole- 
some tonic of adverse criticism has made giants of many 



64 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



who, had they been left entirely to the tender mercies 
of particular admirers would have been dwarfs. 

To learn from an enemy, to appreciate hostile crit- 
icism, to regard an opponent as a friend, is to learn a 
hard though much needed lesson. We may many of 
us pray, if we pray wisely, to be delivered from our 
flatterers far more than from our censors, and not only 
is insincere or stupid flattery detrimental to our high- 
est interests, but too much unqualified honest admira- 
tion is apt to be injurious, as it leads us into self-corn 
placent modes of thought and by making us thorough- 
ly contented with present attainments, offers no spur, 
and holds out no inducement to future victory. 

Job's adversary, Satan, proved his best and most 
helpful friend. The character of Satan is not altogether 
charming, we must admit. The best elements in 
the character are undoubtedly sublime from ancient 
writers' recognition of the important part, all seem- 
ingly adverse influences play in human evolution, but 
the darker shades are no doubt taken from those un- 
lovely attributes of character so often displayed by 
those who take delight in hostile criticisms of others. 
Satan is not, however, despicable or unjust. There is 
nothing mean or contemptible about him. He evidently 
wants to put Job severely to the test, and after prov- 
ing him at every point, shows himself incapable of 
hurting him, while, on the contrary, he proves himself 
at length Job's greatest benefactor. 

There is ample room for considerable divergence of 
opinion with regard to Satan's motives and intents. 
A discussion could easily be carried on with consider- 
able vigor on both sides, were one to undertake to 



Spiritual therapeutics. 65 

defend the character as royal and noble, while another 
undertook to prove it harsh and unlovely in the ex- 
treme. It stands probably for justice devoid of mercy, 
for a stern, uncompromising, unmarried justice, and 
whenever justice, appears without its consort, mercy, 
it is repellant and severe. We may even go far enough 
to say that Satan is a personification of one divine at- 
tribute, while the Lord, with whom Satan converses, is 
another attribute. These attributes of Deity, Justice 
and Mercy, are often represented as separate and dis- 
tinct persons holding converse with each other. In- 
deed the orthodox Christian trinity has originated in 
many theological schools with this very highly per- 
sonified description of the attributes of Deit} r to be 
met with in ancient Scriptures. God the Father is' 
Justice, God the Son is Mercy, and the two are one. 
We can not, of course, accept the doctrine of three 
persons in one God in the sense in which the word 
person is commonly employed, but we can readily see 
how the divine justice has given the world a concep- 
tion of a severe and implacable Sovereign, while the 
divine mercy has given the idea of an infinitely gentle 
and loving Savior. A broader view reconciles these 
attributes to each other in human thought, and a genu- 
ine atonement or reconciliation is effected between 
the divine attributes, so far as we are concerned, when 
we see them for the first time in their true relation. 
The whole difficulty in theological controversy has 
been that men will persist in arguing about oppositions 
and changes in the divine character and attitude, while 
every seeming change in God is only a reflection we 
behold of a change in ourselves. 



66 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

When Job is subjected to Satan's buffetings, he is 
as much in the hands of infinite beneficence as he was 
before the commencement of those dire catastrophes 
depriving him of all his possessions, calamities appar- 
ently utterly unmerited, and therefore most difficult to 
understand and most hard to be reconciled to. Job 
shows his wisdom truly when he raises the cry, Shall 
we receive good at the hands of God, and shall we not 
also receive evil from the same divine source ? 

A flippant critic will point to such passages as these 
in proof of his rabid and hasty theory of Biblical con- 
tradictions, but the careful and cautious student, the 
deliberate thinker, who, perusing ancient records, strives 
to discover how men thought about the darkest and 
most perplexing phases of human experience in days 
of old, will see in it a faithful and penetrative admis- 
sion that much, if not all, that appears evil is good in 
disguise. 

It was a thought of olden days widely spread that 
six months in every year were under the dominion of 
good, and the other six under the control of evil genii. 
Anyone acquainted with Egyptian beliefs must be 
aware that the vulgar thought among the unenlight-, 
enecl was that out of the twelve constellations througM 
which the earth annually passes, six were good and six 
were evil. The reign of the good began in March and 
ended in September, while the reign of the evil began 
with the autumnal and ended with the vernal equinox. 

In Persia, Ormuzd, the power of light, is repre- 
sented as creating six gods. Ahriman, the power of 
darkness, is said to have created six also. But in 
Egypt, every }^ear on the 25th of December, the 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. j7 

victory of light over darkness was celebrated. 1 -J, 
the builders of that miracle in stone, the great pyra- 
mid of Gizeh, so constructed it that twice every year 
"t should be fully bathed in the glorious light of the 
sun, the befitting symbol of the eternal and ineffable 
Deity, whose light never grows dim, and whose good- 
ness is meted out to man as truly in the dark winter 
of adversity, when man's mortal mind, symbolized 
by earth, turns away from its illuminator, as in the 
bright summer of prosperity, when that same mortal 
thought is in perihelion with the divine. 

In the Christian calendar, Michaelmas day, Sep- 
tember 29th, i-s a festival of rejoicing in honor of 
an archangel's victory over the dragon, and it is a 
very impressive circumstance, deserving of far more 
than passing notice that such a festival occurs at 
the very season when the earth passes into Draco, 
or Scorpio, the first of the six evil signs. The in- 
tent of such a festival, when traced to its origin, is 
to show that in religious thought God is as much 
the author of what we call evil as of what we call 
good; that evil is only some obstacle or impediment' 
in our way, which we needs must overcome; and, 
while trials need to be surmounted, passions to be 
subdued, and all lower affections to be brought into 
subjection to the higher, the mystical Michael in us, 
our higher nature, must subdue the mystical dragon, 
our lower nature. And this lower nature is a bless- 
in 0-, when riohtlv subordinated, as it affords a sub- 
stantial base on which the temple of genuine character 
can stand erect. 

The oft-rendered solo from the ik Messiah," "I Know 



68 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

That my Redeemer Liveth," is one of the most ex- 
quisite portrayals of confidence in the absolute and 
certain demonstration of real good out of apparent 
evil ever written. Remember Job, to whom the 
words are attributed, is in the lowest depths of 
misery and suffering when he utters them, and the 
trumpet of his voice gives forth no uncertain sound. 
He declares that he has knowledge that all is work- 
ing for the best. Were the word hope or believe in- 
stead of know, it would be inadequate. That word 
know is a note of triumph. The word "Redeemer" 
can be translated " vindicator," if one prefers that 
rendering, which is equally correct; while the con- 
troverted portion of the passage, " Though worms 
destroy this body, yet in (or out of) my flesh shall 
I see God," is really so rich in meaning, that the 
two seemingly opposite translations are susceptible 
of a perfect harmonization. Sometimes it is in the 
flesh, whilst we yet remain on earth ; sometimes it is 
not till we are out of the flesh, or have cast aside 
the mortal robe, that we clearly see the divine hand 
in all our afflictions; but, whether in or out of the 
flesh, the perfect issne is not to be doubted. 

The common orthodox interpretation which makes 
this passage allnde to a physical resurrection is an 
ntter falsification of the entire spirit of the prophecy, 
and if those who have any doubts on this score will 
read the last chapter in the book of Job, they will 
encounter an unanswerable objection to their material 
idea of a bodily resurrection in a fleshly sense, as Job, 
after his trials were over, it is said, exclaimed, prior to 
physical dissolution, when addressing Deity in strains 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 69 

of jubilant thanksgiving'. "I had heard of Thee with 
the hearing of the ear but now mine e}~e seeth Thee." 
Second Adventism is here robbed completely of one of 
its chief supports. Its very choicest proof text is seen 
at once by any enlightened commentator to favor 
Svredenborg, entirely at the expense of Christadelphus, 
who relied on it for so much support. 

We must now proceed to consider very briefly the 
New Testament doctrine of demons which needed cast- 
ing out of minds and bodies afflicted and insane. We 
need scarcely remind you that demon and demonology, 
in their strictly philosophic sense, are not words of 
evil import. Socrates called his highest counselor a 
demon, which, correctly translated, means only an 
influence operating otherwise than through the medium 
of a corporeal structure. Now every studen t of ori- 
ental beliefs must be well aware that the Palestinian 
Jews in the days of Jesus shared the common oriental 
belief in evil spirits, and looked upon sick people in 
general, and insane persons in particular, as subjects of 
an infernal kingdom, of which Beelzebub was ruler. 

Without entering upon a dissertation concerning 
Bel, Belus, Baal, Belial, and all the various names given 
to the false god whom the Israelites were perpetually 
encountering in some one of its many forms as an 
object of idolatrous worship, we may safely conclude 
that as Aaron's golden calf must have stood for mam- 
mon worship, or inordinate greed of gold and other 
material possessions, this infamous idol, called the 
prince of infernal dominions, was sensuality. The 
worship of this hideous monster was the disgusting 
desire and practice of sensuality in all its hybrid forms 



70 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



of degradation. When infamous idolaters sacrificed 
their sons and daughters unto devils, they delivered 
them up to the curse which follows upon depraved and 
depraving sensuality. 

If all who are striving to strengthen the moral con- 
victions of society, and who take an interest in the 
young, would tell the young men and women of the 
present day that their sensual appetites are the devil, 
that the source of temptation is in their own lower 
nature, that they must subdue their carnal appetites by 
turning their thoughts and affections in spiritual, moral 
and intellectual directions; if they would but assure them 
that the only tempter to be dreaded is the one acknowl- 
eged by James when he says, "Every man is tempted 
when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed,*' 
they would do infinitely more to strengthen morality 
than by seeking to prove the existence of an alto- 
gether too convenient scapegoat. 

Devils are to be cast out, and how can they be cast 
out if they are not in us ? They are our own impure 
thoughts of every kind and name, and until we engage 
in the work of exorcism, in the right spirit and accord- 
ing to the true method, we shall never be able to re- 
lieve the insane, or elevate the moral tendency of soci- 
ety. Sensuality in thought is the cause of demoniacal 
possession or obsession. Lunatic asylums are filled with 
inmates driven thither either through inordinate grat- 
ification, or unwilling repression of sensual appetites ; 
and we should never forget, when discoursing on 
psychic influence, that we draw to us from the un- 
seen states which are all about us whatever our desires 
attract. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 71 

Do we believe that persons on earth are ever under 
control of outside devils? We believe they become 
so related to the psychic emanations of the impure 
minded, that they come under the dominion of error 
from whatever source it may emanate. Do we believe 
that sensitives are peculiarly liable to come under such 
malign influence? That depends entirely, not simply 
upon their surroundings, but upon their thoughts and 
dispositions. We attract and submit to whatever we 
fear or love. We can not resist what we fear or what 
we love. Resistance only comes with brave and 
determinate opposition toward what we neither fear nor 
love. A weak, yielding, altogether too negative and 
forceless habit of mind leads to insanity. Victims of 
mental aberration are frequently those who lack men- 
tal and moral stamina. They reflect whatever condi- 
tions are thrown around them. Indecision and weak- 
ness of will lead to insanity ; while fear, as well as 
love of base things, brings us under the dominion of the 
insidious powers of darkness, which prevade the air. 

No moral education is worthy the name unless it 
promotes vigorous activity of the higher promptings.- 
Children need to be taught the great importance of 
correct thinking, and should never be left without em- 
ployment and then scolded for being naughty because 
they have no proper occupation for brain or hands. 

Swept and garnished houses are no safeguards 
against the approach of evil, for unless we are con- 
stantly occupied with good, we fall easy prey to the 
seductions of any tempter who may chance to come 
our way. Saloons, gaming hells, and other villianous 
1] aunts, will exert no attraction over the mind of youth, 



72 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

if, before exposing young men and maidens to the per- 
ils and dangers of a city, parents, guardians and teach- 
ers wisely direct their thoughts into channels of use- 
fulness and purity. No disease can invade an organism 
not receptive to the animalcules in the atmosphere, 
which are repelled when the body is in a healthy, and 
invited when it is in an unhealthy state. 

Pure thought can not but eventuate itself in purity 
of word and act, and no influence from without can 
gain an entrance, unless invited from within either 
by morbid desires or mental vacuity. To resist the 
tempter is not possible unless our minds are attuned to 
celestial forces, and then, with the actual, positive force 
of active, operative good, we can overcome all evil. 

Talmage and other sensational pulpit mountebanks, 
in their insane tirades against Spiritualism, are practi- 
cally denying God and giving omnipotent power to the 
devil. Many of the Roman Catholic clergy, including 
the far-famed Monsignor Capel, are no wiser than Tal- 
mage, when treating a similar subject. Concerning 
the influence of the departed upon those yet upon 
earth, we have always stoutly maintained that the old 
proverb, " Birds of a feather flock together," is liter- 
ally true, and that close mental associations are impos- 
sible of continuance apart from kinship of thought and 
affection. 

If persons believe they have a work to do in elevat- 
ing those in darkness, and allow mental contact for the 
benefit of those whom they seek to uplift, we can not 
conscientiously discountenance their work ; but we do 
maintain that no error is more pernicious than that 
which teaches that man is a creature of uncontrollable 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 73 

circumstances, and therefore must perforce submit to 
any and every influence which may seek to gain as- 
cendancy over him. Look for the source of evil within 
and not without. Fortify yourselves by noble pursuits, 
wise companionship, and elevating trains of thought, 
at those points where now } r ou experience weakness ; 
and when you feel some dark influence approaching 
you, and seeking to allure you to destruction, realize 
that your strength is in perfect trust and absolute con- 
fidence in Infinite Good, coupled with sincere and active 
effort to translate your highest sentiments into noble 
acts and words. 

When Goethe represents Faust in the clutches of 
Mephistopheles, he shows throughout the play or opera 
how deftly the seducing tempter plays upon the weak- 
ness of the student who seeks to win the earthly love 
of Marguerita, by any Avile or artifice an adroit temp- 
tation may suggest. As a person, Mephistopheles is 
anyone who is desirous of rendering a service to an- 
other, no matter how unscrupulous the work in hand, 
if by so doing he can command a greater service from 
that other on his own behalf. Mephistopheles is not 
at all outside of humanity so far as his personality is 
concerned. He is to be found in clubs and drawing- 
rooms, at fashionable fetes and banquets ; but instead 
of wearing a grotesque costume and protruding horns 
and tail, his dress is of the latest fashion, his broad- 
cloth garments are of superfine material and of latest 
cut, his linen is immaculate, while a choice and fragrant 
flower, symbolical of innocence and grace, adorns his 
buttonhole; his manners are suave as suave can be, his 
diction most polite, his avowed morals irreproachable ; 



n 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



he often takes a class in a Sunday-school, and some- 
times mounts the pulpit stairs and there delivers an 
address of unctious sanctity. He can be all things to 
all men, in order that he may entrap some, and thereby 
further his own selfish and nefarious designs. 

Utterly unscrupulous, he seeks his prey wherever 
he may find it. He is the worst type of a man about 
town — a polished swindler, an attractive dancer, an 
educated liar, a polite villain. He finds himself smiled 
upon everywhere, and often laughs among his boon 
companions at the stupidity of his admirers, who are 
shallow enough to promise him their earthly all in a 
moment of intoxication induced by himself, after he 
has carefully studied their weak points and flattered 
their vanity. 

Mephistopheles, subjectively regarded, is that ele- 
ment of selfishness, vanity, or sensuality within our 
breasts that gives the adventurous libertine in societ} r 
his opportunity. Mothers with marriageable daugh- 
ters, you may be seeking Mephistopheles as a son-in- 
law when you are desirous of seeing your daughters 
marry well, in a worldty sense. Young men of busi- 
ness, you are courting Mephistopheles whenever you 
sacrifice principle to policy, and barter your honor for 
money or the world's applause. The love of money 
is the root of all evil. The devil is the god of gold ; 
and he or she who loves material things inordinately 
is a devil worshiper. 

How shall we kill this devil? We can not annihil- 
ate a single particle of dust, nor can we destroy one 
iota of the force which pulsates in the forms of men 
and women, but we can transform, we can transmute 



Spiritual therapeutics. 75 

what we can not and should not endeavor to destroy. 
Transmutation leads to glory. We may take all our 
lower impulses, and mastering them by the might of 
spirit, so overcome them in their lower sense, so trans- 
form their downward tendency, that while in their per- 
verted state they are the occasions of our stumbling, in 
their transfigured form they are the faithful servants 
of the soul divine within us. Asceticism is a mistake. 
All endeavors to eradicate aught that inheres in the 
constitution of man must prove disastrous in its conse- 
quences, while to find the true philosopher's stone which 
is capable of converting all inferior metals into gold is 
to find the soul within us, and so subdue our cvppetites 
to reason and our intellects to moral principle, that the 
devil in us, which is but inverted goodness, will be at 
length transformed into a glorious angel of light. 

Let us all accept our earthly discipline as a means 
of noblest conquest, and in the understanding of what 
is meant by the words, "He that overcometh shall in- 
herit all things,' 1 we can thank God for His goodness 
in giving us a lower nature to subdue. 



LESSON V. 



RESURRECTION. 



AS we have received a great number of questions 
all bearing on the subject of Resurrection, Ave 
have deemed it desirable to reply to a number of them 
in the following address which will be found to con- 
tain answers to a number of leading inquiries continu- 
ally recurring in the minds of all who devote much 
thought to this intensely interesting theme. 

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the cor- 
ner-stone of Christianity ; without it the whole system 
falls to pieces. By Christianity in this sense we of 
course mean that great religious s}> stem which prevails 
throughout that part of the world commonly called 
Christendom, not that excellence of character and ami 
ability of disposition which many people are accus- 
tomed to indiscriminately designate "Christian." 

Now, so intensely important a doctrine as that of 
the resurrection can not be supported in any literal or 
external sense in the face of modern criticism. In its 
letter the doctrine is most surely doomed. It has long 
been dying, and is now almost if not entirely dead 
among earnest and liberal thinkers on the subject ; but 
while in its letter it is rapidly becoming obsolete, and 
will soon have to be regarded as an effete dogma, a 
product of ancient ignorance and mediaeval supersti- 

76 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 77 

tion, in its spirit it is revealing itself in a light always 
perceived by a few intuitive and clearly reasoning- 
minds, but never until very recently beheld by the 
masses of mankind, unless it be in some remote period 
lost in the dim haze of legendary narrative which ante- 
dates the so-called "historic period." 

As an introduction to what we have to say concern- 
ing the resurrection of Jesus in particular, let us glance 
at a few of the numerous instances of resurrection from 
the tomb, or from death, recorded alike in the Old 
and New Testaments. The power to raise the dead, 
according to the Bible, is a gift bestowed upon all true 
prophets, whether under the Jewish or Christian dis- 
pensation. Elijah is said to have literally restored to 
life the beloved son of the hospitable woman at Zare- 
phath, who entertained him at her home, and shared 
her scanty supply of provisions with him in a time of 
direful famine. Elisha, upon whom Elijah's mantle 
fell, raised from the dead the son of a Shunamite 
woman who had shown kindness to him. Jesus raised 
Lazarus, the widow's son at Nam, Jairus' daughter) 
and others, and in giving his final commission to the 
disciples who were to succeed him in his ministry on 
earth after his disappearance from the plane of mortal 
perception, he declared that the works he had done 
they should likewise accomplish, and even do greater 
works than any he had performed in consequence of 
his ascension to the Father. 

In the " Acts of the Apostles" we are told of the 
resurrections wrought by the divine gift bestowed upon 
the apostles very similar to those already referred 
to. Now, in these cases of resurrection from the dead, if 



78 spiritual therapeutics. 

the literal sense be strictly adhered to. not only is there 
no positive proof of human immortality offered, 
but avo can scarcely behold even a faint intimation of 
the spiritual immortality of man. All these narratives 
arc very popular with the Second Adventists and others 
who deny spiritual life, and affirm the necessity of a 
bodily resuscitation. Of course it would be quite pos- 
sible, by means of not unfair or illogical special plead- 
ing, to argue immortality from the fact of the spirit 
being recalled after it had left the form; still there are 
so many ways of escape from this conclusion without 
very much verbal juggling, that in common fairness we 
are bound to admit that the testimony on behalf of hu- 
man immortality, furnished by such narratives, is un- 
satisfaetorv because uncertain, and wherever a mbiffuity 
prevails positive conviction is out of the question among 
close reasoners. 

These physical resurrections, in the light of modern 
knowledge, are intensely interesting from a therapeutic 
standpoint, and are therefore really more important 
matters to medical men than to theologians,unless theo- 
logians are willing to return to their primitive and 
rightful position as healers of the body as well as the 
soul. Though it has always been the part of true theol- 
ogy to minister to sin-sick souls, it is none the less its 
province to minister with equal efficiency to beclouded 
minds and ailing frames ; and because it has for cen- 
turies almost confined itself to one portion of its proper 
sphere, instead of working throughout that sphere, it 
has been not only severely reprimanded, but stoutly 
antagonized by utilitarians of every school, who can 
not see even the prospective advantages of a system 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. ?9 

which does not here and now demonstrate its beneficial 
influence upon mankind, even to the ultimates of phys- 
ical expression. 

It is a singularly noticeable fact that priests and 
prophets in all ages have been healers of the sick. 
When James said in his epistle, "If any sick among 
you, let him call for the elders of the church," he was but 
complying with a usage so ancient that no student of 
antique customs can discover a period (say in ancient 
Egypt) when such practices were not constantly re- 
sorted to. Indeed, we are very much in doubt whother 
in olden times a priest or prophet would have been 
accepted by the people at all if he had not presented 
his credentials in this manner. To heal the sick, even 
to the extent of raising the seemingly dead, was one 
of the leading proofs of a spiritual vocation. Words 
and deeds had to go together, or a claim to spiritual fit- 
ness for an exalted station was not received as genuine. 
Of course, it may always be argued by the materialistic 
school that the priests of old were versed in the knowl- 
edge of drugs, and, in spite of the mystery which sur- 
rounded their practice, they were really skillful physi- 
cians. This, of course, may be and is in a sense correct 
but, notwithstanding all allowance which can be fairly 
made for this admission, the singular evidence of the 
prophet's gift was that he could perform works of heal- 
ing far transcending the work done by the therwpeutce, 
or medical men. 

In the days of Moses it appears that the manner of 
testing a true prophet, versus an ordinary magician, 
was at this very touchstone of his possessing or not 
possessing the healing gift. Pharaoh's magicians, at a 



80 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



period when the court was one of infamy and despot- 
ism, could do as wonderful things as Moses. When 
miracles were under consideration, they could claim full 
equality with the great founder of Mosaism, but when 
it came to removing plagues from the land, Moses and 
the magicians differed, as light and darkness, night and 
day. The magicians could convert rods into serpents, 
and then turn the serpents hack into rods; they could 
multiply frogs, locusts, and all manner of pests ; they 
could afflict the bodies of men and cattle in a most 
mysterious and fearful way ; they were complete mas- 
ters of the black art, but the white art of healing was 
altogether beyond them. We must never forget that 
mere wonders are no evidence of the operation of 
divine power. Wonders of beneficence are required to 
attest the action of celestial force. 

That the physical body of man ought to be under 
the complete dominion of reason, intellect, and will, 
needs no argument, neither does it need an argument 
to prove that intellect in its turn Leeds to bow before 
the moral sense. The three universally recognized 
principles in man, the animal, the intellectual, and the 
moral, must be rightfully subordinated, the one to the 
other, or harmony, which is wholeness, symmetry, or 
health, is impossible. 

The superiority of mind to matter needs not to be 
argued ; it is self-evident, as evident to the practical 
mechanic, or the potter who molds the clay, as to the 
most abstract metaphysician. That the higher should 
govern the lower, that our higher instincts should hold 
our lower passions in subjection, is admitted by Colonel 
Ingersoll as much as by any ascetic, but with this dif- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 81 

ference. Ingersoll differs from the ascetic in his view of 
what constitutes the highest welfare of the race. 

Xow, it stands to reason that as all material achieve- 
ments are wrought by the power of intelligence, or, in 
other words, by mental and moral action; as it is be- 
yond cavil that in order to subdue the material world, 
man must at least liberate his reason from the chains of 
passion, it inevitably follows that the more perfect mas- 
tery one gains v over one's own lower impulses, the 
greater will be one's influence for good upon one's 
neighbors. 

It needs no argument to prove that if one can re- 
move a heavy stone from before one's own door, he has 
sufficient strength to remove a stone of similar wei°ht 
and proportions from another's door, if he have but 
liberty to use that strength on a neighbors' behalf, 
while if he is too weak to roll away a rock which bar's 
the entrance to his own domicile, he can not possibly 
remove one of equal size from some one else's door. 

We can not impart what we do not possess. The 
more we have the more we can bestow, but at the 
same time nothing is truer than that the best and 
readiest way of learning is to teach what we do know, 
and thus put ourselves in the true way of learning 
more, while the surest way to receive abundantly is to 
give freely to the utmost extent of our ability. 

Medical science is avowedly experimental. The 
highest medical testimony proves that while there are 
multitudes of open questions, there are very few set 
tied ones among the medical fraternity. Joseph Cook 
declared, in Boston some years ago, in Tremont Tem- 
ple, before a very large audience, on the occasion of his 



82 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

memorable discourses on probation in death, in opposi- 
tion to the theory of probation after death which he 
was combating, that an infallible test of death had not 
been discovered by modern scientists, and that a large 
reward would gladly be placed in the hands of any one 
who could furnish the colleges with such infallible test 
as they stood in need of. 

Now, if a champion of orthodox Christianity makes 
such a statement as this, and it can scarcely be refuted, 
what proof is there, we ask, that any one of the per- 
sons raised to life again by Jewish prophets, Christian 
apostles, or the Christ himself, were really dead? 
Medical opinion would doubtless be that they were in 
a stupor; buried in a trance, or something of the kind 
comparatively unusual, but hy no mean unprecedented. 
You have all read and heard, doubtless with much in- 
terested wonder, of many persons rising from their 
graves after interment, and to raise the seemingly 
dead, even those already buried, would be less a won- 
der in a hot country than in a cold one, and still less 
wonderful at a time when epidemics being prevalent, 
interment in the ground follows almost immediately 
upon the supposition that breath has left the body. 

The statement that Lazarus had been buried four 
days would, of course, in that particular instance, add 
greatly to the marvel of his restoration, but even in 
that case it could scarcely be said that the wonder was 
unparalleled. The simplest exposition, by far the most 
reasonable, practical, and helpful one, is that these nar- 
ratives have probably been culled from an immense 
mass of ancient testimony to the efficacy of direct spir- 
itual healing after all external measures had proved 
futile. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 83 

The author of the fourth Gospel ends his record by 
saying that if everything which took place at the time 
concerning which he wrote had been recorded, the col- 
lection of manuscripts would have been so great that 
the world could hardly contain them, thereby leading 
us at once to infer that only sample illustrations 
were given, testifying to an exuberant outpouring of 
the spirit extending throughout Judea, and doubtless 
elsewhere, astounding the populace, arousing the bit- 
terest ire and indignation of interested parties whose 
fortune was derived from monopolistic enterprises, and 
generally proving to the populace that even for bodily 
ailments there was a cure unknown to the pract loners 
of the prevailing schools of medicine. 

It is impossible to vouch for the accuracy of all the 
details of these narratives. They are often more or less 
romantic in their style. They may even be parables? 
but whatever they are they afford a close insight into 
the actual occurrences of that age. To say that they 
are not original, to state even that they came from 
Egypt, by no means disposes of them, because facts of 
such a nature can not depend upon time and place, but 
upon nature and degree only. 

If such things can be, if they ever were, they can 
be now, provided we learn to comply with neces- 
sary requirements for their production. Their place in 
the Bible gives them a historic base in the minds of 
men, and makes them capable of stimulating hope and 
inquiry, if not positive faith in the minds of the mil- 
lions the world over who read them. We can safely 
leave them in their literal sense as challenges to modern 
disciples of truth to put the Master's theory into prat 
tice, and learn by the three-fold agency of faith, prayer 



84: SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

and abstinence to accomplish for suffering humanity 
to-day benefits as great as any that occurred, from a com- 
plete surrender of sense to spirit, ages ago in far-off 
countries. 

But it is not with the letter of these narratives, inter- 
esting and profitable though it be, that we are most 
particularly concerned, for through the dimness of the 
letter beams the everlasting brightness of the spirit; 
and while the letter breaks when too hardly strained, 
and fails to justify itself to human reason in some par- 
ticulars, the spirit to which the letter is often sacrificed, 
but which is never sacrificed for the sake of the letter, 
bursts upon us with a refulgence so glorious that Ave 
cease to care whether the letter is accurate or not, so 
satisfied do we become with the kernel of truth after 
we haye broken the shell in which it has been so long- 
enclosed. 

Whatever phenomenal Spiritualists may say to the 
contrary, the evidences of human immortality arc, in 
their final analysis, totally subjective ; and when we 
say this, we do not for a moment intend to repudiate 
or disparage such objective proofs of spiritual action 
over material things as may be necessary to conduct 
the doubting mind, immured in sordid materiality, step 
by step out of the darkness of materialism into the 
light of true and abiding Spiritualism. We do, how- 
ever, most emphatically declare that phenomenal evi- 
dences of spiritual power over mortal things are only 
means to an end — useful and necessary means in many 
instances, means to be honored and not despised, but 
still only means — the end not being attained till the 
means are no longer needful. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 85 

If all Spiritualists, metaphysicians, Swedenborgians, 
and others would but compare notes and be reasonable 
on this point, a grand, united army of spiritual work- 
ers could at once be found to storm the citadels of 
error, and let in the light of truth to multitudes of dark- 
ened, minds. But just so long as blind and bigoted antag- 
onisms are inflamed by hot-headed partisans of a partic- 
ular view of truth, people who see from one point of 
view only, and persist in maintaining that what they 
see is all the truth there is to see; so long, we say, as 
such people are to the lore in any movement, whatever 
name and proportions it may assume, that much to be 
desired harmony and genuine spiritual co-operation of 
scattered forces so sorely needed in the present junc- 
ture of human affairs can never be consummated. One 
side denies phenomena, calls it all fraudulent, delusive, 
or debasing ; the other side extols it beyond ail reason- 
able limits, even to the extent of denying the very 
existence of the end to which, if useful, it must of ne- 
cessity lead. 

The New Testament presents to us the golden mean, 
and so do all rational teachers who are at the same 
time what all rational people should be, eminently 
spiritual. In the accounts furnished by the evangelists 
of the resurrection of Jesus we have, when we take 
only a literal view, many reasons for doubt. Thomas 
Paine, in his u Age of Reason/' has borne unwitting 
testimony to the spiritual sense, which he evidently did 
not perceive, when he positively ridicules the account 
as it stands literally. 

The stor}^ is that Jesus expired physically on the 
cross on a Friday afternoon, and that certain women 



86 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

remained at the foot of the cross till all was over. 
The j saw their Master's dead body removed from the 
cross, or, at all events, they saw him during the very 
latest moments of his earthly existence. Not more 
than forty hours later, very early, before daybreak, the 
following Sunday morning, they were at the tomb, 
which they found empty, and when these same women, 
especially Mary Magdalene, saw the risen Jesus, and 
held a conversation with him, she had no conception 
that it was he ; but, mistaking him for a gardener, 
she confided her sorrow and amaze to him, without the 
least suspicion, it appears, entering her mind that she 
was talking with the very friend of whose physical 
whereabouts she was so diligently inquiring. 

Now, if the writers had intended to convey the idea 
that Jesus rose from the dead in the literal physical 
form which was buried, why did they not so record 
the event as to encourage belief, rather than provoke 
the most decided unbelief in this connection? If a 
physical form were raised, then why should the 
women and the disciples, in the case of the resurrection 
of Jesus, have any more difficulty in identifying him 
outwardly than the friends and relatives had in ident- 
ifying those whose bodily resurrection has been already 
under review % 

What would have been more natural than for Mary 
Magdalene to have been struck dumb with amazement 
at beholding Jesus standing beside her, and, for the 
time being, supposing she had seen a vision or beheld 
an apparition ? But nothing of this nature, nor any- 
thing approaching it, enters into the narative, so far, 
at least, as she is concerned. He looks to her like an 
ordinary man attending to the duties of a gardener, 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 87 

and it is not until he turns to her and pronounces her 
name in some peculiar and doubtless characteristic 
way, accompanying- the words with some silent, subtile 
appeal to her inner consciousness, that she is in the least 
aware that her beloved teacher, whom she mourned as 
dead, is talking with her, — truly alive, but not in out- 
ward appearance like unto what he was before his phy- 
sical decease. 

Two disciples journey between Jerusalem and 
Emmaus the same day. At evening they hold a long 
conversation with Jesus, without in the slightest degree 
recognizing him physically. He made himself known 
to them at a supper by some characteristic way he had 
of breaking bread, and they then remembered how 
their hearts had burned within them as he expounded 
Scripture to them while they were on the road ; but 
physical evidences of a personal character were alto- 
gether lacking, and it does not appear that any physi- 
cal proofs were given to any disciple except Thomas, 
whose skeptical mind required more tangible evidence 
in his case. To meet his necessity, to use a modern 
word, Jesus " materialized," i. £., he produced an out- 
ward form so closely resembling the physical organism 
he had once worn, that even the doubts of Didynius 
yielded to so convincing a display of the absolute power 
of spirit over matter. 

What became of the physical body of Jesus is a 
very interesting queiy. Most answers are totally un- 
satisfactory. The only really helpful one is that de- 
rived from a study of occult chemistry, and a compari- 
son of the claims put forward by theosophists concern- 
ing the faculties of adepts, with prevalent views put 
forward by distinguished naturalists, 



88 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Scarcely a physiologist of any note can be encoun- 
tered anywhere, who does not give seven years as the 
longest time for those changes to become complete 
which periodically remodel the organic structure of 
man. Camille Flammarion, a Frenchman of great 
eminence, declares that the entire physique is remod- 
eled in less than one year, while many parts of the 
body change . entirely in not more than thirty days. 
Now, with such testimony as this before us, how ut- 
terly futile must be every attempt to establish a theory 
of physical resurrection among intelligent persons. 

And what is far more important even than the light 
thrown on the resurrection in its literal sense, is the 
amazing testimony thus brought forward by physical 
scientists to the reality of the spiritual man and the 
utter impossibility of the physical organism being any- 
thing "more than a temporary and ever-changing instru- 
ment- The physical body, in the light of natural sci- 
ence, is a chemical compound, susceptible of complete 
disintegration.* when volatilized, as all hard substances 
can be, according to scientific testimony, — for even the 
rocks as well as the osseous formations in the human 
frame are only solidified ether or coudensed atmos- 
phere, — the most rigorous external substances can be 
reduced to a state of absolute invisibility. 

When the human will shall gain such power over 
the physique as rightfully belongs to it, and as can be 
obtained by a life of complete abnegation of the lower 
instincts, that the higher may wield unrestricted sway, 
the disappearance of a physical form will not occasion 
much surprise, as the power of will is thoroughly ade- 
quate to separate all the particles of the structure, and 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 89 

compel them, one and all, to return to their respective 
places in the external kingdoms of which they form a 
part. 

The body of Jesus, in our opinion, was not stolen, or 
in any way removed from the tomb. It was dispersed, 
or, as some would say, " de-materialized." When the 
human will becomes so sovereign over sense that it is 
no longer held in captivity to sensuous proclivities, 
death will not occur even to the outward body. When 
the intelligent principle which has used it for a tem- 
porary work has outgrown the need of it, then will it 
be thrown aside painlessly and willingly. It will not 
slowly decay, it will be simply cast off when it has 
served its use. To teach the necessity of disease, and to 
call decay natural before the spirit has left the bod} 7 , is 
to teach a most damnable error, one which is afflicting 
the world with innumerable sorrows of man's own 
creation, and one which, in common justice to enlight- 
ened physiologists, it ' must be admitted they do not 
teach. 

Dr. T. L. Xichols and many others have argued 
splendidly against the prevalent notion that sickness is 
natural. To attribute disease and premature passing 
from the mortal form to an act of nature or Divine 
Providence is to call darkness light, error truth, guilt 
righteousness, and the unnatural the natural ; which is 
the quintessence of mischievous absurdity. The sub- 
lime spectacle of Jesus quitting the mortal form after 
having declared his earthly work finished, is a picture on 
which, all need to gaze whose shallow pessimism leads 
them to regard the effects of their own weakness and 
immorality as harmonious with the divine natural 



90 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

order, against which their own ignorance or willful- 
ness causes them to rebel. Illness is something to be 
ashamed of, and when one meets with accident, it is 
conclusive proof to the lynx-eyed philosopher who 
knows something of the true nature of causation, that 
spiritual perception is but dim and instinct obscure in 
the one who stumbles and falls into danger, while if he 
were more foreseeing and discerning he could readily 
have escaped. » 

The Egyptian custom of embalming the dead is not 
one which it is well for modern nations to copy. Cre- 
mation is, in its turn, far preferable to burial, while the 
disposal of human remains by electrical agency will 
doubtless soon supersede cremation, till at length what 
Bulwer Lytton, in "The Coming Race," calls vril will 
at length be the agent employed in all such undertak- 
ings; while there is yet to be discerned, still farther 
ahead, the sovereign action of will, which will leave 
even vrM, with all its potencies, far in the background. 

But when we dismiss all questions pertaining to the 
outward shell, and consider as we should what resur- 
rection means, in its higher aspect, the old Greek word 
cmastasis, which has excited so much controversy, ap- 
pears before us radiantly transfigured, as it carries with 
it no further thought of a physical envelope, but admits 
to our view that spiritual body which Paul speaks of as 
altogether separate from the natural (animal) body. 
There are two bodies, the animal and the psychical. 
The former, as an individual shape, knows no perma- 
nency whatever, at any time, but is only an ever- 
changing aggregation of molecules, attracted and up- 
held by ever-varying conditions of mortal disposition. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 91 

Beyond this outward form, and altogether independent 
of it, is the spiritual body, which is a perfect structural 
organism, beautiful and harmonious in all its parts. 

In giving spiritual treatment, one is not called upon 
to deny the existence of the body, and to use such a 
ridiculous formula as for instance, "'You have no head, 
therefore it can not ache." Quite the contrary. A 
perfect head, not the absence of a head altogether, 
should be presented to the patient's thought. It is 
highly important that all should learn to see beyond 
all external limitations, and regard the whole human 
family as perfect interiorly and really as regards our 
common essential spiritual being; and when the thought 
does turn thoroughly to the spiritual, and all material 
things are forgotten, intromission to the spiritual world 
is the result. 

We are told that David, who mourned bitterly 
for his child before the breath left his body, after 
the child was actually dead physically, consoled him- 
self in these words, " I shall go to him, but he shall 
not return to me." Going to our beloved in spirit 
need not be postponed to a distant day, and indeed 
we have no reason to expect that the dropping of 
the material form will introduce any of us at once 
into spiritual society. We must, while on earth, cul- 
tivate our spiritual perceptions, and learn to discern 
spiritual things spiritually, or after the demise of the 
physical organism we may find ourselves hovering on 
the earth, unconscious of all things spiritual. What 
more credible than that many who have dropped the 
garment of flesh still continue to imagine themselves 
encased in matter? 



92 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

The principal danger attending- promiscuous se- 
ances and sittings with mediums, with a view to 
the acquisition of material wealth, is that even 
though communications are absolutely genuine, they 
are with an order of mind not far enough removed 
above the stock-broking level to be really profitable 
to those who hold interviews with it. Editorials in 
the Golden Gate, Banner of Light, and other avow- 
edly spiritualistic newspapers, have frequently pointed 
to the cui bono of spiritual intercourse as a something 
entirely distinct from worldly emolument, and Ave will 
go so far as to say that it is usually demoralizing to 
drag earthly business into what ought to be a means 
for promoting the noblest and most unselfish instincts 
of human nature. 

The chief cause of sickness among well-meaning 
and affectionate people is sorrow. ~No grief can be 
so poignant as that occasioned by the loss of be- 
loved friends. We are repeatedly asked, in our classes 
and elsewhere, how such grief can be assuaged, and 
by a radical removal of the cause the effects be com- 
pelled to subside. Our answer invariably is that the 
only salutary treatment in such cases is to direct the 
mind of the afflicted one to the spiritual state, to 
use all the moral and mental persuasiveness you pos- 
sess to induce your patient to look away from sense 
to spirit, and if you can but get the thought finally 
off material things and on to spiritual reality, the 
outward symptoms of disorder at once give place to 
a placid and even joyful exterior. As light breaks 
in from the unseen world, immediately we cease to 
dwell upon external things. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. . \)r> 

For this reason., Mary's attitude is preferable to 
Martha's, for an inordinate concern for worldly affairs 
is like an insect or a cinder in one's eye. When one is 
traveling through some delightful country, the most ex- 
quisite scenery is imperceptible to one whose visual or- 
gans are blocked up. So may we not conclude that the 
only reason why we are not usually conscious of the 
presence of spiritual influences is because grief, repining, 
or some other earthly emotion keeps us absorbed in 
those externals, which, when they engage our atten- 
tion, shut out from us all view of spiritual life. After 
all, all that matters is that those in sorrow should be 
brought out of their low estate by a realization of 
spiritual truth. 

If the various resurrections recorded in the Scrip- 
tures are literal facts, they afford no evidence that 
those who were thus marvelously raised in flesh did not 
die again. Parents and sisters whose brothers and 
sons and daughters were thus physically restored to 
them, must ever after have been tormented with the 
fear of losing them again, unless some guarantee was 
given that their life was immortal. .Our greatest source 
of unhappiness is our own materiality. We love the 
things of sense far too dearly, and thus whatever we 
may know of spiritual immortality, we are not content, 
because we sigh perpetually for com pan ionship on the 
material plane. 

True spiritual resurrection is not the resuscitation of 
a corpse. It is nothing in any way physical. It is an 
illumination of one's interior being, an opening of one's 
spiritual perceptions to discern the spiritual state. Sor- 
row often helps us toward this end because it loosens 



94 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

our hold on outward things. Thus we can comprehend 
Job's exclamation addressed to the Almighty at the 
end of his affliction, " I have heard of Thee with the 
hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee." 
Those who are truly resurrected, in the spiritual sense, 
are those blessed ones who, even while they dwell on 
earth, are in conscious and continual communion with 
the spiritual realm. 



LESSON VI. 



TRANSFIGURATION. 



HAYING received a great many questions con- 
cerning the story of the transfiguration of 
Jesus and its attendant circumstances, and being 
particularly asked to apply its teachings to mod- 
ern life, we present the following summary of our 
views on this intensely interesting subject, and as the 
subject easily permitted of it, we have embodied in this 
address replies to several questions bearing on the 
proper government of refractory children and offenders 
against the civil law. In the'seventh chapter of Matthew 
we find the story of the transfiguration briefly out- 
lined as follows : Jesus takes Peter, James and John 
to a high mountain apart, and is transfigured before 
them. His face shines as the sun, and his garments 
appear white as the light. Moses and Elias appear to 
the disciples talking with Jesus. Peter asks Jesus 
whether three tabernacles can not be erected on that 
glorious height, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one 
for Elias, but before he finishes speaking a bright 
cloud overshadows them, and a voice speaks from out 
the cloud saying, " This is my beloved son in whom I 
am well pleased,hear ye him." When the disciples hear 
the voice they fall on their faces, and are sore afraid. 
Jesus bids them arise and fear not. After he has touched 

95 



90 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

them and they raise their eyes the two visitors are 
no longer visible, they are alone with Jesus who tells 
them the time has not yet arrived for making public 
the vision, but he assures them after his resurrection 
the time will have arrived for publicly testifying to 
their marvelous experiences on the mount. This nar- 
rative is immediately followed by the narration of a 
marvelous case of healing of one who was oppressed 
with lunacy, which affords occasion for a homily on the 
need of faith as a grain of mustard seed (a topic of vital 
moment to all spiritual students), and then a practical 
discourse on paying tribute, which seems to open up to 
the earnest and intelligent meditator much important 
teaching on the subject of the proper relation existing 
between faith in God, worship of the Supreme Being, 
recognition of the sole sovereignty of divine truth in 
matters of conviction and the honorable discharge of 
our duties in the external state. 

Let us transport ourselves in mind to the scene of 
the vision. Significant, indeed, is the account of its 
being seen on a high mountain, a figure of speech 
which incessantly occurs in the Scriptures in connec- 
tion with states of spiritual exaltation, moral and in- 
tellectual enlightenment and conquest over enemies. 

More than three thousand years ago, according to 
the Pentateuch, Moses received the Ten Command- 
ments from the hand of Jehovah, on tables of stone, 
upon the top of an Arabian mountain, while the multi- 
tude at the base were enveloped in thick darkness. 
Their eyes were so weak that after Moses had come 
down from the mountain into their midst, they could 
not gaze upon his features until he had covered his face 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 97 

with a veil. How striking the resemblance between 
the glorified countenance of Moses at the time of the 
giving of the law to the Hebrews in the desert and the 
transfigured countenance of Jesus when Moses re-ap- 
peared upon a mountain top in Asia Minor. 

The correspondence of a mountain is not far to seek. 
Mountainous districts are peculiarly salubrious. There 
is far less disease and far fewer early deaths on high 
ground than in low-lying valleys. Miasmic emanations 
do not reach those lofty heights. In India, during the 
summer season, when the climate in all the cities is so 
oppressive to Europeans that they can scarcely endure 
it, the mountainous region round about is healthy and 
invigorating. Scarcely ever does a Western traveler 
to the far Orient suffer severely from the climate if he 
can take refuge in the mountains during the hottest 
portion of the year. 

In Europe, when the cities of the Italian plain lie 

sweltering under the summer sun Alpine tourists are 

encountering; bracing air wafted to them from snow- 
to o 

clad peaks whose ermine robes are never melted, even 
though the torrid rays of the summer sun scorch to 
death every flower and blade of grass in the low-lying 
districts. The air is always pure on mountain heights, 
no matter what form of fell disorder may be raging in 
the- valleys. So universally is this fact recognized that 
physicians the world over prescribe mountain air as an 
effectual antidote to disorders considered incurable 
while the patient remains on lesser elevations. 

In the religious thought of the world we find the 
sacredness of mountain heights a peculiarly conspicuous 
feature. Temples were almost always built on high 
7 



98 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

ground, and it was a common belief among the ancients 
that divinities dwelt on mountains, and specially was it 
felt among the Jews in olden times that God could fight 
for them on mountain tops, and nowhere else. One of 
the interpretations given of the name, Jehovah (Yah- 
veh),by some authorities is, "the god of the mountains,*' 
a deity who was ever at home in high latitudes, but 
utterly out of his element on low land. 

Puerile as this definition would be of the Supreme 
Being, if any allusion to the Infinite were contained in 
it, it accords so precisely with the universal beliefs of 
ancient peoples that it is but one out of many instances 
proving that the Israelites shared a common faith with 
the great mass of humanity, even though at certain 
periods of the world's history they have undoubtedly 
been the custodians of a particularly pure and noble 
monotheism, while Jewish influence the world over has 
liberally contributed to the advancement of morals, sci- 
ence, philosophy and art. 

But to discard the more external meanings of Bible 
mountains, let us at once give way for the spiritual in- 
terpretation which lies so thinly veiled in the literal 
dress which drapes without concealing its majestic fea- 
tures that any child of ordinary intelligence need not 
err in learning the lessons such narratives as the ac- 
count of the transfiguration enforce. Asa mountain is 
a lofty height up which no one can climb without an 
effort, as when once gained it secures a commanding 
view of surrounding scenery invisible in the valley, as 
it frequently rains down into the valleys when it is 
clear upon the hill-tops, as clouds hang frequently 
about the mountain sides, obscuring its peaks and 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 99 

completely hiding the celestial panorama we can gaze 
at when on its summit, the mountain fitly represents a 
state of mind attained alone through earnest and oft- 
times laborious effort, a mental state above the doubts, 
fears, worries and vexations of every-day existence, a 
state which once reached allows the one who has at- 
tained it to gaze henceforth on spiritual glories unclis- 
cernible by all save those who have scaled the rocky 
peaks upon whose towers one may see the pageant of 
the heavens and not the dust of earth ; on mountain 
heights we are so far above the noise, strife and bustle 
of ordinary affairs that we seem to dwell in a fairy re- 
gion, a charmed estate where music not of earth and 
sights unknown to mortal observation entrance our 
eyes and ears w r ith glimpses of the realms eternal. 

The everlasting hills ! What a sublime expression 
that is. How calm, strong and satisfied the mount- 
ains seem! How they appear to smile, half disdain- 
fully and half compassion at el y at the little nervous 
enterprises of the ever changing towns and hamlets at 
their base. 

It is not a foolish speculation which leads many to in- 
quire if God is not nearer to us on the mountains than 
in the valleys. He is not nearer to us, but we are apt 
to be consciously nearer to Him. The vastness of the 
solitudes brings us into closer relations with our inner 
selves, and through the highest in us can we alone ap- 
proach the highest in the universe. Mountain solitudes 
are often so terribly oppressive to the external mind 
that the brain reels, reason totters, and insanity ensues. 
We have heard of many men, some of them mere 
youths, who have become maniacs through tending 



100 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

sheep alone on mountain heights. Such experiences 
were frequently alluded to in ancient works on occul- 
tism, where initiatory rites were spoken of as entailing 
the utmost danger and distress on the weak and fal- 
tering, while the strong, persistent, and courageous 
neophytes grew stronger and more gifted with every 
trial they encountered, till, at length, they rose superior 
to every dread, and came orf triumphant victors over 
sense and its seductions. 

It may be in place here to allude briefly to an arti- 
cle published some time ago in the Two Worlds, an 
English spiritualistic newspaper, edited by Mrs. E. II. 
Britten. The article is entitled " Practical Occultism," 
and the writer is styled " One Who Knows." This ar- 
ticle was copied by Dr. J. R. Buchanan in the January 
1888 number of his Journal of Man, accompanied by 
editorial comments which are on the whole extremely 
reasonable, as they are to the effect that no kind of oc- 
cult discipline which disqualifies one for the perform- 
ance of the regular appointed duties of life, can be as 
much a blessing as a drawback to the progress of 
humanity. 

This is just the point we want to emphasize, and it 
needs especial emphasis at this particular time when 
occult studies are being pursued, or, at least, looked 
into by the most intelligent persons every where, while, 
as may be expected, there are many bats in human 
form ready, if possible, to eclipse the sunshine because 
they are too blind to appreciate its radiance. 

Esoterically considered, the New Testament agrees 
exactly with the Hindoo Yedas, and every other pure 
and ancient Scripture designed to preserve a concise 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. . 101 

record of spiritual discovery upon the earth in the ex- 
act language of precise and unchanging correspond- 
ence. The recent publication of the "Bhagavad Gita 
or the Lord's Lay," in a new form, by Mohini M. Ohat- 
terji, with copious annotations and references to the 
Christian Scriptures, has furnished a fresh proof of the 
striking similarity of one inspired form of teaching to 
another. ' 

All inspired writers point to one only means of 
reaching a knowledge of truth, so far as to make it 
practical in every relation of existence, and that is by 
going up, or, in other words, going: in to the mountain 

O O I ' ' 'Oct 

of the higher, which is the inner nature, there to dis- 
cover the pearl of great price which lies buried in the 
depths of man's spiritual being, so as to be able when 
that pearl is found to carry it out into all the family 
and business transactions of life, till, at length, there 
is a new earth or external state of justice and purity, 
as well as a new heaven or higher and deeper internal 
realization of things divine. 

To pay especial attention to the details of the story 
we are now specially considering, let us note the three 
disciples accompanying Jesus up the mountain. We 
find these three going 1 with him wherever he went. 

O CT 

John was the most beloved and intimate of all, but 
Peter, James and John were his constant followers 
and immediate attendants. They suggest to us the 

./ OO 

three representative orders of human faculties we all 
recognize: the moral, the intellectual and the physical, 
while Jesus represents the immortal soul. All our 
faculties must go up to the summit of the mountain. 
or, in other words, our entire nature, classified as 



102 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

it may be in three grand divisions, must be employed 
in the discovery, diffusion and application of spiritual 
knowledge to the diversified needs of our common 
humanity. 

Every one needs a time for mountain climbing, and 
a place which may be to him a holy mountain so far as 
outward isolation from the busy world can make it so. 
When it is asked why the Orientals are said to attain 
spiritual altitudes more readily than members of the 
bustling communities of the Western world, the answer 
is invariably the same. Hindoos reply: "We live 
nearer to the soul of the universe than you do; we care 
less about money, rank and fashion; we spend less 
time and thought upon external things than you, and, 
as a consequence, we have our reward; we seek spirit- 
ual bread, and we get it ; you seek the stone of worclly 
honors and distinctions and } t ou get them ; according 
to your desires, so are the answers to your prayers, for 
all desire and effort is prayer, and as you pray, so you 
are answered, no matter to whom you pray or what 
you pray for." 

The great question for modern moralists, yes, and 
for physiologists also to consider is the relation of 
external striving to health and purity. It may sound 
to some a worn-out platitude that you are destroying 
your national health and undermining the ^ery founda- 
tions of future greatness, but this truth needs to be 
sounded as with the voice of a trumpet sounding an 
alarm, in the ears of all heads of families and public 
instructors throughout the land. Morality cannot be 
taught successfully to youth so long as parents and 
teachers set the example of mammon worship. The 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 103 

influences surrounding a forming mind, subtle, unseen, 
usually unrecognized influences are what tend to 
develop character far more effectively than any amount 
of routine instruction. There is everything in a pure, 
healthy, invigorating, mental atmosphere. The moral 
air a child breathes in unconsciously is what molds his 
temper of thought and character, not the scholastic 
drill which is often a painful and unwelcome strain on 
the intellectual faculties. 

If, as Dr. Buchanan prophesies, psych ometry is to 
be the dawn of a new civilization, psychometry, which 
means, literally, soul measurement, another term for 
psj^chical perception, must be utilized in tracing the 
effects of unseen influences on the triune constitution 
of man. The question is constantly raised as to the 
education of sensitives. Crammed scholastically they 
had better never be, for the less they are burdened 
with pedantic technicalities, the freer and sweeter will 
be their inspirations. But can any one doubt that some- 
thing very practical can be accomplished in the way of 
helping to unfold psychic powers and perceptions nat- 
urally ? 

In the Two Worlds, " Schools for the Prophets" are 
discussed. Mrs. Britten and many of her most intelli- 
gent correspondents are strongly in favor of doing 
something practical in the way of assisting sensitive 
persons to unfold and use their powers under the best 
possible conditions. Speaking for ourselves, we are 
not much in favor of endowed and incorporated institu- 
tions for such a purpose, as trustees and directors are 
too frequently dogmatic and intolerant. They may 
have excellent financial and executive ability in the 



104: SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

business world, but spiritual gifts are not in the market 
to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. You cannot 
purchase the gift of the spirit for money. Thus if col- 
leges for sensitives be established there is a danger that, 
falling into the hands of dogmatists, they will devel- 
op into nothing better than mesmeric establishments, 
in which all the subjects would be connected by means 
of invisible wires of thought with some centralizing 
and controlling power, not so much spiritual as mate- 
rial. 

The gospel story of the transfiguration need not be 
considered as a literal historical fact, if one does not so 
desire to consider it, as its spiritual import is universal. 
The evangelists tell us of certain methods being 
adopted and certain ends obtained. We may say then, 
in a certain sense, a challenge is thrown out to the 
world; let whoever will pick up the gauntlets. Jesus, 
the central figure, is exotericalhv whoever fills the 
position of a great and advanced teacher ; esoterically, 
he is the spiritual nature in all mankind. The Great 
Teacher gathers together those of his followers who 
are prepared to receive a higher lesson in divine truth 
on the top of a mountain, and there is transfigured 
before them. Far away from the strife and bustle 
of the noisy, mercenar}^, contentious world they are 
brought face to face with the sublimest aspects of 
truth the world has ever Avitnessed; Moses and Elias 
appear to them. If this is literal history, then they 
receive on that high altitude, in the clear, bracing air, 
a proof of human immortality they could never receive 
on the low tablelands or in the valleys. If the spirit 
of the storv be alone regarded, then, what is Moses 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 105 

but an embodiment of law, or what is Elijah but 
prophecy personified \ 

Let us look at Moses in the light of law for a few 
moments, and then at Elijah in the light of prophecy. 
Flippant, would-be critics may dismiss biblical narra- 
tives with a contemptuous sneer, because the hidden 
treasure has to be dug out of the mine, and the\r have 
neither inclination nor ability to dig it out ; but to the 
student of life's mysteries, to the reverent inquirer into 
the secrets of the universe, every page in all the Scrip- 
tures of the earth glows with the light of a hidden 
flame, whose guiding light ever beckons the world on to 
higher and ever higher attainments. The true theory 
of evolution is more plainly exemplified in Bible history 
than in all the treatises of Darwin and his followers, 
even the latest scientific speculations concerning natural 
selection, and the survival of the fittest are all magni- 
ficently illustrated in scripture stories when esoterically 
interpreted. 

There can be but little question to-day among those 
whose researches are something more than despicably 
superficial, of the existence in remote ages in Egypt of 
a splendid spiritual dynasty, of which the most power- 
ful and glorious kingly dynasty was but the outward 
shadow. Ghronologists inform us that Egypt was 
ruled by gods for 13,900 years prior to the reign 
of demi-gocls, who, in their turn, were succeeded by 
Pharoahs, who were ordinary men, native princes. 

Let us strip ancient history of all its fantastic 
apparel, and let ancient phraseolog} 7 melt into modern 
forms of speech. Let us employ the gospel interpreta- 
tion as a working hypothesis in deciphering the hiero- 



106 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

glypliics of the past, contained in the words, "They 
Were called gods, on whom the spirit of God (the Eter- 
nal) came," and we can readily perceive how the Jews 
(the word Jew really means any enlightened person, not 
necessarily a relative by blood of any special human 
ancestor) in the days of Moses, probably a contemporary 
of Sesostris the Great, borrowed and never returned, 
i. e., carried out of Egypt, the most valuable treasures 
of wisdom which they locked up at length in the jewel 
cases of their correspondentially written scriptures. 
The Mosaic law was a perpetuation of a system of 
legislation, dating back no doubt to the sunken 
Atlantis, from which actual (not fabulous) country 
Egypt received her first impressions of science and 
religion. The Atlantian heroes and wise men who 
colonized Egypt were the gods who ruled the country 
for nearly 14,000 years in the long ago. 

The most ancient law buried in the letter of exter- 
nal Mosaism, is the one divine law of truth. It is the 
universal, spiritual, natural law, to transgress which is 
sin. This law never changes ; it is absolutely immuta- 
ble, like its author and sustainer, God. When law is 
transfigured, and not till then, do we see how perfectly 
at one are all the religious systems and bibles of the 
world. The unity of law is to be found only in its 
spirit; its letter killeth, and that which kills also dies, 
while its spirit giveth life, and therefore lives forever. 
The great paradox of the New Testament is the pres- 
entation of diametrical opposites in the life and teach- 
ing of the ideal man. Jesus is constantly represented 
in the two-fold capacity of law destroyer and law ful- 
filler. In the sermon on the mount, he disallows the 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 107 

letter of Hebrew legislation in its every particular, and 
attributes the enforcement of antiquated customs to a 
spirit of servile submission to the traditions of the past. 

How can the law be destroyed in letter but fulfilled 
in spirit ? How can we in this day, in this land, com- 
pletely set aside the letter of the ancient law, and at 
the same, time enforce its spirit in every particular? 
Take the Sabbath law as an example. The old Jewish 
institutes concerning Sabbath observance are literally 
so repellant to the spirit of human liberty and even 
justice that we shrink with horror from the thought 
that a human being was ever put to death for working 
on the seventh day. We can have no sympathy with 
the old blue law of New England, which ordained 
heavy fines and imprisonment for the slightest depart- 
ure from the rigorous enactments of the Puritans. 
Still, we all know by practical experience, that one day 
of rest and recreation out of every seven is intensely 
beneficial to all who observe such a periodical season 
of refreshment and repose. 

The institution of the Sabbath dates back to an age 
and country where slave-holding was as common as 
hired labor is to-day. The Sabbath law was, in its 
intention, a humane and merciful 'provision against 
the overworking of human beings and animals alike. 
Read the Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue care- 
fully through, and you must, every one of you, be thor- 
oughly convinced that men and women, oxen and 
asses, as creatures who worked with scarcely an inter- 
mission, except for nightly sleep, during six consecutive 
days of every week, were greatly blessed by having 
secured to them the rest of the Sabbath. In the olden 



108 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

days, when men were not to be moved, it appears, by 
any merely human mandate, the authority of a really 
or assumedly divine revelation was absolutely necessary 
to compel tyrannical masters to allow their slaves 
some seasons of repose, and, as Solomon truly and 
wisely says, " A righteous man regardeth the life of 
his beast' 1 — the Sabbath law was as stringent con- 
cerning animals, as it was concerning men, while an 
extension of the same law insisted that the land should 
rest every seventh year, and by thus resting the land, 
oriental agriculturists prevented the soil from wearing 
out, and the land from becoming sterile through over- 
cultivation. So wise and so beneficent is the Sabbath 
law in its essential spirit, that Ave can, none of us, 
afford to disregard it here to-day, and we are happy to 
say that avowed \y materialistic papers, such as the 
Boston Investigator, are as much in favor of intelligent 
Sabbath observance as any Christian sheet can be. 

The question which naturally arises is, What do you 
mean by Sabbath observance? We ansAver, We do not 
mean any sort of ecclesiastical observance, but a healthy 
cessation of business cares and vexations, for the whole 
of one day out of seven. Let people go to church if they 
like, into the parks, onto the water, or wheresoever they 
please, and if it is found necessary to employ some peo- 
ple on the day when others rest, an equitable 
arrangement might be made whereby some people 
should observe the Jewish and others the Christian 
Sabbath. Still, as far as possible, all should observe 
the same day, for the purpose of rendering possible a 
calm and quiet general mental influence due to the ab- 
solute cessation of at least nine-tenths of the work done 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 109 

on the six working days. Jesus, in alibis teaching and 
example treated this question in the most practical 
manner conceivable. He healed the sick on the Sabbath 
day, thereby dedicating it to the best good of the race 
physically, as well as morally and mentally; and when 
accused of being a Sabbath-breaker, he answered, "The 
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sab- 
bath." 

In that statement he caused Moses to appear trans- 
figured before the mental vision of those who claimed 
to be devoted disciples of the great Hebrew legislator ; 
and when we pass on to a consideration of teachings 
yet more vital and important, we shall find the same 
transfigured Moses held up by Jesus to the people 
in place of the old Mosaic commands, whose literal bar- 
barity is so shocking^ repulsive to the enlightened 
thought of the nineteenth century. 

When we spoke against the hanging of the Chicago 
anarchists, at the time of their trial and condemnation, 
we took for our text, " Whosoever sheddeth man's 
blood, by man shall his blood be shed ; " but we 
coupled with it many words attributed to Jesus, taken 
from the sermon on the mount, in which he most em- 
phatically dissents from the retaliatory interpretation 
of those grandly prophetic words, the full inner mean- 
ing of which can only be comprehended by a true 
theosophist deeply versed in a knowledge of Karma, 
or the law of consequence. Several Boston newspapers 
were sent to us by friends in Massachusetts, containing 
lengthy reports of sermons by Christian ministers, 
approving of the execution of the anarchists. Almost 
every one of those sermons, delivered in Christian pul- 



110 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

pits, was in downright defiance of Jesus, and justified 
the comment of a friend who sent us the papers. " If 
Jesus were on earth to-day, those very ministers would 
cry out, ' Crucify him.' " We ask, in the name of com- 
mon sense, how can preachers or hearers be so hypo- 
critical, or so blind to the meaning of words as not to 
see that their applications of old Hebrew texts to 
modern events are at deadly variance with the teach- 
ings they profess to regard as the words of incarnate 
Deity ? The Christian Church will never put down in- 
quiry, so long as it worships Jesus with the lip, and 
insults him in every act of legislation. Joseph Cook's 
oft repeated babble, " May God, have mercy on their 
souls, but may the Government of the United States 
not have mercy on their bodies," was one of the most 
inconsistent sentences any man professing to be a 
follower of Jesus could possibly utter or frame. As 
Moses Hull, editor of The New Thought, said art Mt. 
Pleasant Park Camp Meeting in August, 1887, Why 
do not these professing Christians condemn men for 
shaving the corners of their beards, for the same chap- 
ter in Leviticus which enforces the barbaric commands 
against which the sermon on the mount so forcibly 
inveighs, is as strict in its denunciations against shaving 
the whole face, as it is against adultery. 

Sweden borgians interpret the old law spiritually, 
and thereby assist in the transfiguration of Moses ; but 
we regret to say that even among people professedly 
constituting the New Jerusalem Church, there are 
some who advocate capital punishment. " An eye for 
an eye, a tooth for a tooth," is still their motto, in 
spite of all that Jesus said so earnestly against it, and 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. Ill 

the singular anachronism is, that the very people who 
advocate these awful barbarities read as a portion of 
the divine word publicly in their churches the most 
emphatic condemnation of their own acts. We do not 
wish to be severe, but we cannot resist repeating the 
words of an intelligent Oriental, who had just been 
studying the New Testament, "Well, it is difficult for 
me to see how any Christian can advocate capital 
punishment without being either an idiot or a hypo- 
crite." 

We have no difficulty in perceiving that the original 
intent of even such a monstrous act as decapitation 
may have been to deter others from crime, and there- 
fore may have seemed legitimate; but that the wisest 
men of the East saw no deeper into human nature 
than to believe that doing evil that good may come, 
brings good to pass, is something we neither will nor 
can believe. 

The lesson to be derived from the appearance of 
Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration is primarily 
and essentially the adjustment of our laws in harmony 
with the Sermon on the Mount. When the vail is re- 
moved, and law appears in its own intrinsic beauty, 
undimmed by false disguise, there will no longer be any 
need for prisons, jails and penitentiaries, but before 
these institutions, relics of barbarism that they are, are 
totally abolished, prison reform must be carried to such 
a pitch that going to prison will be looked upon in the 
same light as going to school or to a hospital. 

Moral asylums are needed just as asylums for the 
blind, the deaf and dumb. And as visitors go frequently 
to these latter institutions to watch the progress made 



112 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

by those who, often from some unknown cause, have 
been deprived of some natural gift, toward the obtain- 
ing or recovery of it, so should prison inspectors take 
an active interest and sincere delight in the moral re- 
covery of those who, often through infamous early 
training, or lack of training, have so comported them- 
selves as to render their temporary captivity within 
four walls necessary for their own reform and others 
safety. We are not necessarians, and we do not con- 
done offences ; but what we do maintain is that love 
being the fulfilling of the divine law, only through 
loving administration is the world to be redeemed from 
the innumerable errors which now curse it. 

What a lesson the disciples of Jesus must have 
learned on the top of that mysterious mount where 
Moses thus marvelously appeared rehabilitated in the 
garments of loving kindness ! What a difficult lesson 
it was for Peter to digest, who, even at the most affect- 
ing moment of his beloved Master's surrender of him- 
self into the hands of his accusers, thought to advance 
that Master's interest by lifting up his sword and cut- 
ting off the ear of the high priest's servant Malchus ! 
How small must be the mind of any caviler who picks 
at the outer garb of the gospel story, and utterly fails 
to see how applicable are all the events therein recorded 
to the present day and this very land of ours. Was it, 
after all, enthusiasm for the Master, or was it a feeling 
of spiteful revenge which lifted Peter's hand? He 
could not have been, at that time, very brave or noble, 
when he so soon after denied his Master ! Hot-headed 
impetuosity' is never associated with genuine fealty and 
lasting friendship. The man who would fight boldly 



Spiritual therapeutics. 113 

for Jesus was the man who was the most ready, through 
cowardice, to deny him. Physical culture dissociated 
from spiritual culture develops the pugilist, who is 
never brave. The gymnasium, and certainly the fight- 
ing ring, will develop in one and the same person a her- 
culean body and a pigmy soul ; physical giants are often 
mental dwarfs. To strike a blow or fire a pistol is not 
courageous. Courage gives the soft answer and there- 
with turns away wratliSjj 

Oh ! how often do we witness the saddening specta- 
cle of men and women seeking to enforce discipline by 
boxing children's ears, and other cowardly and wicked 
practices. Children grow up sneaks and criminals, be- 
come yet viler through the machinery of a law of 
hate and fear, when a loving, just, and merciful regime 
would educate little ones, and reform criminals. 

But we must revert, ere we conclude, to the ap- 
pearance of Elijah, or Elias, who was the embodiment 
of prophecy, as Moses was of law. Prophecy is said 
by Paul to be the greatest of all spiritual gifts. Now, 
what is prophecy? A prophet is a seer, one who looks 
ahead, who scans the heavens, and foretells coming 
events; but he is, most of all, an exhorter — one pos- 
sessing the power to speak directly to the hearts and 
consciences, as well as to the intellects of his hearers. 
Between priest and prophet there is always the same 
difference that there is between inventor and copyist, 
between creative and imitative genius. Priests and 
those under them do not usually believe in prophecy. 
and they often stone the prophets. A prophet can not be 
confined within the narrow limits of any man made creed, 
he can not submit to having his wings clipped and living 
8 



114 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

like an eagle in a cage. He must be free as the air, and 
he would rather starve than compromise. Of such pare 
metal was Elijah made, and of such, verily in every age 
and country, may it be said, "Their's is the kingdom of 
heaven/' No earthly crown decorates their brow, no 
earthly honors and emoluments are theirs, nor do they 
seek them ; their motto is ever, " For God and for 
humanity, " and their whole life is an exemplification 
of the truth to which, through good repute and ill, 
through fire and sword if need be, they steadfastly ad- 
here. The significance of the appearance of Elijah on 
the Mount of Transfiguration is far removed above that 
controversial speculation which disputes over the literal 
identy of John the Baptist with Elias of old. Whether 
John the Baptist was the personal Elias re embodied is 
not a question of any vital moment. 

Elijah is the synonym of prophecy, the representa- 
tive of prophets everywhere, and for all time. When 
prophesy is transfigured, or, in other words, understood 
not in the killing letter, but in the life-giving spirit, it 
no longer appears as unconditional as it did before. 
Israel of old was so favorably situated that all things 
seemed conspiring together to make of the house of Israel 
and of the city of Jerusalem the greatest nation and 
the metropolis of the whole earth. Had Israel always 
remained true to her sacred trust, had she invariably 
adhered to the commandments of the decalogue, the 
day could never have arrived when the name of Caesar 
had to be acknowledged in Palestine. 

It was the scheming, calculating spirit which ani- 
mated the demagogues in the days of Jesus to curiy 
favor at the court of Rome by condemning the innocent 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 115 

to death, that through many centuries as a deadly but 
most insidious poison, had been lurking in the veins of 
the Israeli tish people. This alone it was which wrought 
their downfall and made it possible for the Christ to 
weep on Olivet. No more touching scene has ever been 
portrayed than that of the weeping Savior of a doomed 
humanity — not doomed by any cruelty of God, but 
self-destroyed, preferring war to peace, hate to love, 
falsehood to truth, vice to virtue. Is there a medical 
ntan w T ho can not at once apply the scene to many 
among his own patients ? Faithfully and patiently he 
has pointed out to them their errors, reasoning and 
remonstrating with them till time and language were 
alike exhausted, and then, when they had proved utterly 
incorrigible, in sadness he has turned away and lam- 
ented the idiotic folly of men and women rushing head- 
long to physical perdition, when the means had been 
placed within their grasp of working out their own salva- 
tion ere it became too late. 

Prophecy is not prediction solely or chiefly, it is first 
of all and more than all, exhortation. The true prophet 
is a genuine exhorter, one who sets the truth before the 
world with convincing power and fervor; one who, 
with more than usual hindsight, insight, and foresight, 
knows the inevitable law of consequence more fully 
than his fellows, and consecrates that knowledge zeal- 
ously, untiringly to blessing the world. ISTo prophet 
can tell you what will of necessity befall you ; but he 
can tell you what must inevitably acrue if a certain 
course of action is persisted in. 

Nothing is more natural than prophecy. From a 
spiritual standpoint prophecy is an exact science, and 



116 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

the understanding* of it as such is the master key to all 
those occult mysteries which continually beset us. 
When the followers of Jesus knew what prophecy 
really meant, all their national hopes were dashed to 
pieces. No longer could they regard the Infinite 
Jehovah as the tribal deity of the Jewish clan, almost 
exclusively interested in the welfare of a fragment of 
the human race. A broader conception took possession 
of their minds, and henceforward God to them appeared 
as no respecter of persons, but a respecter of righteous- 
ness only. This sublime view of Deity was not new; 
Hebrew prophets had entertained and expressed it long 
before, but there is little reason for supposing that the 
Jews as a people had ever risen to a general acceptance 
of the idea of a universal and utterly impartial Deity. 

To apply this subject to vital issues of the living 
present, w T e have only to change the time and scene of 
gospel episodes to render them intensely applicable to 
present conditions in Europe and America. We need 
to press the matter still nearer home, and individualize 
the lesson of the story, by contemplating how poor a 
thing is bald prediction when applied to our own circum- 
stances, while genuine prophecy, that gift of the spirit 
which Paul extolled above so many others, is the richest 
dower which can fall to the lot of any human being. 

It requires a lecture on heredity to explain in any- 
thing like detail the working of the prophetic element 
in daily life. Supposing you are told your lungs are 
weak, and you believe it, and instead of setting to 
work to strengthen your system by healthy discipline 
you give in to the saddening thought — a thought most 
woefully depressing wherever entertained — that it is a 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 117 

part of your ill luck or adverse fortune to succumb to 
a terrible disorder. You fulfill a vile, and perhaps 
utterly baseless prediction by affiliating in thought 
with the very forces which tend to tear you down, 
while you might just as readily have affiliated with an 
opposite class of influences, association with which 
would have built you up. Now take an instance on 
the other side being told that you inherit an excep- 
tionally robust constitution, and that in consequence of 
being thus naturally vigorous you are bound to live a 
long life and enjoy excellent health to the end of your 
days, you fritter away your energy in disgraceful dis- 
sipation; you will most certainly fail, like the hare in 
the old fable, while your less fortunately started neigh- 
bor may be the winning tortoise in the race. 

These illustrations are intensely commonplace, but 
our ambition is to be practical, not to indulge in flights 
of eloquence or flowers of rhetoric. Let the history of 
the Jewish people two thousand years ago and the his- 
tory of all peoples who have once been great, but who 
have yielded to the corroding moth of presumptuous 
self-satisfaction, lead us all to yield to that glorious 
Elias ministry of the soul, which, in the stentorian 
tones of a rugged and utterly inelegant dweller in the 
deserts, often proclaims to us the only means of escape 
from all the evils which menace us. when he lifts up 
his voice in the wilderness, and loudly cries: "Bepent. 
for the kino-dom of heaven is at hand." A kino-dom of 

o o 

heaven is now at our doors. TTe are entering upon a 
new social, religious, and political order. The great 
industrial problems of the hour, the tremendous strug- 
gle between capital and labor, between monopoly and 



118 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

justice, can not much longer be dallied with ; the final 
issue can not much longer be delayed by unsatisfactory 
temporizing in the way of palliative concessions, when 
radical reform is loudly called for over all the earth. 
Not those who fare delicately, and are clad in costly 
raiment are the prophets, but those who dare to lift up 
their voice in humanity's cause, espousing right and 
liberty even though their cry shall cause thrones to 
totter, and shall shake the hoary foundations of a false 
political system until it falls about the ears of those 
whose material interest it is to uphold it. 

Let no cringing servility to wealth or fashion seal 
our lips, or cause us to lay down our pens. Let one 
and all buckle on the armor and fight with the spirit- 
ual and intellectual weapons of persuasive argument 
and forcible denunciation of wrong, the demon ty ran n} 7 
which still holds multitudes in thrall. America, the 
richest, fairest, freest land beneath the sun, even you, 
with all your great advantages can not afford to trust 
idly in your luck, for if you do not speedily hold con- 
verse with Elijah on the mountain, or, to change the 
metaphor, lift high the banner of pure morality upon 
the folds of which is inscribed the sacred watchword 
" Justice," all your advantages will be as naught, lor 
unerring prophecy ever declares that nation and that 
state which is distinguished above others for equitable 
government, righteous laws and a united people, shall 
assuredly wear the crown and wave the palm whenever 
the day arrives on which we shall see infinite justice in 
righteousness award the prize of supremacy to those 
who, above all others, love justice and mercy, and 
thereby serve the Eternal in truth, and keep His corn- 
mandments. 



LESSON VII. 

TRUE INDIVIDUALITY, IN WHAT SENSE AND TO WHAT EX- 
TENT IS MAN A FREE MORAL AGENT, AND WHAT IS THE 
ULTIMATE OF INDIVIDUAL SPIRITUAL ATTAINMENT. 

THE problem of divine sovereignty and human free 
agency is one of the most difficult ever presented 
to the human mind for solution, and we certainly do not 
expect to solve the problem fully so as to remove all 
difficulties out of the way of the honest inquirer, never- 
theless we hope to throw at least a little practically help- 
ful light upon it. 

In this age when it is customary in many quarters, 
presumably learned and scientific, to deny the super- 
natural altogether, it is necessary to define clearly what 
truth underlies the doctrines of supernaturalism. 

The word nature signifies a something born, there- 
fore if nature is something born, the laws of nature are 
laws governing something born, or laws inherent in 
this something born, we know that nothing is born 
without parents and that nothing can come into exist- 
ence without an adequate cause. The so-called super- 
natural is strictly speaking only super-phenomenal, 
supermaterial, super-sensuous, or super-terrestrial, 

Supernaturalism arises with the conviction that there 
is in divine power an unlimited faculty of causation, 
God being an infinite and omnipresent cause, know- 
ing no beginning or ending of his work but dwelling 
and working in an eternal present. 

119 



120 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Whenever enlightened Hebrews called the Divine 
Being Yahveh or Jehovah, they signified by this term 
the Being who always was and who therefore ever will 
be. The Eternal One who was never made and could 
never be destroyed. 

When a child inquires, " If God made everything, 
who made God?" his question is simply puerile and 
insignificant, because if you could tell who made God, 
the question would then occur, who made the being 
who made God ? And then if you reached in your 
reply to the being who made God, you would have to 
answer still another question, viz.: who made the being 
who made the being who made God ? You would be 
of necessity obliged at length to take the position that 
there is, because there must be, a self-existent some- 
thing or some one. The entire difference between 
theism and atheism, and between gnosticism and ag- 
nosticism is a difference with regard to the attributes 
of the self-existent being. 

The atheist is obliged to admit that something 
always was and ever will be ; that something was 
never created and can never be destroyed. He says 
you can not destroy an atom, that annihilation is incon- 
ceivable as applied to substance itself, and if nothing 
can be put out of existence, then nothing was ever 
brought into existence. Theism goes further and af- 
firms that the eternal something which never came in- 
to existence and can never go out of existence is not 
unconscious and therefore unwise, for it would be an 
axiomatic absurdity to declare that the something 
always in existence is less than the something not al- 
ways in existence ; it consequently follows that if con- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 121 

sciousness, love, Avisdom, spiritual life, in a word all the 
virtues, were not always in existence, you are brought 
face to face with the miracle of creation, of something 
made out of nothing. Therefore, those who deny 
God and substitute an unconscious nature teach the 
absurdity of something being created out of nothing, 
for if goodness, wisdom, will, intelligence, mind, spirit, 
soul, if everything relating to our higher being was 
not always in existence, how did it ever come into exis- 
tence ? But if that which was never made, never even 
made itself, but ever was and ever will be, if the Eter- 
nal Being includes all attributes pertaining to nobility 
of mind and soul, if all the attributes and elements we 
desire to be permanent, were in the eternal heart from 
eternity and will remain in the same eternal heart to 
eternity, this view induces us to regard our individual 
finite personal lives here as nothing other than expres- 
sions in limited form of attributes, elements and prin- 
ciples which are infinite and eternal in the fullness of 
their being. 

People talk of divine existence as totally apart from 
human existence very often. It is not absolutely cor- 
rect to speak of God's existence, but it is entirely cor- 
rect to speak of man's existence ; existence means ex- 
pression. Existence is a revelation of something. God 
is eternal being, and existence which is external, is a 
manifestation of being. Therefore we say that we 
exist but that God is. In making such a statement we 
logically, in technical language, convey our idea con- 
cerning eternal being and temporary existence. 

When we know what we are, we have discovered 
the absolute and infinite truth of being itself; when we 



122 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

have reached to that stage in the ladder of our journey 
we shall look no longer at things as they seem but 
shall behold them as they are ; then we shall know 
what Longfellow meant and all that any poet could 
imply in that wonderful statement in the Psalm of 
Life, " Things are not what they seem." 

As long as we dwell in the region of the seeming 
we live in a lower region than the region of teing. 
When we deal with things as they appear we do 
not usually deal with them as they are. All the 
delusions and counterfeits with which we are so ac- 
customed to deal, will pass away, and be destroyed 
forever; but that which is permanent, whatever is 
real substance, cannot ever be destroyed. Destruc- 
tion of error is accomplished in the sense in which 
folly is destroyed by the advance of wisdom, for wis- 
dom is greater than folly, folly being but the ab- 
sence of wisdom. Ignorance is destroyed through 
education, for education brings knowledge; knowledge 
is greater than ignorance, for ignorance is but the ab- 
sence of knowledge. All our frailties, imperfections, 
faults, and misbeliefs, all our imperfect dreams and 
personal vagaries, Avill at length be cast into a bot- 
tomless pit, and be burned with unquenchable lire, 
while all that is real, our true being, all that is pre- 
servable because worth preserving, will forever, in 
our individual consciousness, enable us in the limited 
circle of individual capacity to say, I am as the Eternal, 
embracing eternal life. Every child of God, every son 
and daughter of the Most High reaching the bed 
rock, touching the eternal foundation upon which is 
reared the temple of finite existence, can say forever. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 123 

<k I amy The realization of this divine individuality, 
this glorious identity of soul that forever will be 
man's blessed portion, is the only infallible evidence 
of one's entrance into the true Kingdom of Heaven, 
or Nirvana, to which many Orientals especially look 
forward with such earnest and eager quest. 

Many people, in consequence of a total ignorance 
of genuine Theosophy, suppose that hundreds of mill- 
ions of people desire annihilation, which implies that 
they desire that their individual souls should no longer 
retain identity; what they really desire is complete 
destruction of personal or external selfhood, or the 
lower nature, whose passions constantly war against 
the higher. 

We tell you most emphatically that you have to 
lose your outer self in order to find your inner self. 
You must part with all that personality which makes 
you disagreeable to one another and engenders animos- 
ity and rivalry, in order to find that divine individual- 
ity which teaches you to enjoy each the other's wel- 
fare and to live in perfect peace and harmony through- 
out eternity as a thoroughly united family. When you 
attain the glorious height of spiritual perfection, when 
you have trod the perfect way, reached the perfect 
goal and won the perfect prize, you will have lost every- 
thing that could possibly make you disagreeable to 
any one, and every one around you will have lost what- 
ever could possibly make them disagreeable to you, 
but you will retain everything that makes you agree- 
able and valuable to each other and you will have found 
in this ocean of love, infinite powers of enjoyment 
which you never dreamed of when you were on earth 



124 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

concerning' yourself with external business with a view 
to outdoing your neighbor. 

We endeavor to point our students to the higher 
truths of spirit, to the higher view of immortal life, so 
we have to tell them there are things to forget as well 
as to remember ; there is a memory to be killed as well 
as a memory to be cultivated ; there is a carnal selfish 
self that must die and never rise again, as well as an 
eternal identity that never can die ; we assure you that 
the only things that can be destroyed are things that 
cause you discord and trouble by alienating you in in- 
terest one from another. All desire to kill must be 
annihilated ; the desire of one nation to make war 
upon another must be annihilated ; the disposition 
of one person to hate or slander another must 
be annihilated, with everything that makes you 
rivalrous and selfishly ambitious; for when yon 
enter fully into the glorious region of the truly real, 
and the principle of absolute being is known and 
understood, you will all unite, all coalesce, so as to all 
form one glorious heavenly company, one divine choir : 
and as in a grand organ there are many stops and many 
parts which harmoniously blend together and as there 
swells forth as a result of this blending, a volume of 
sound wherein one cannot distinguish with an untrained 
ear the separate sound of each sweet note ; or as in some 
great and glorious choir pouring forth melodious har- 
mony you hear the music of a thousand voices, but can- 
not discriminate with the untutored ear, one voice from 
another; the reason why you fail to detect individuality 
is because you are not trained sufficiently in the sense 
of hearing to discriminate ; but bring a thoroughly 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 125 

trained musician into the presence of ever so mighty a 
torrent of sound and he will tell von lie hears each sep- 
arate voice in the chorus no matter how many are sing- 
ing at once, and if any voice is singing out of tune, he can 
tell which voice it is. When we have found our true 
identity we shall know each other as we shall know our- 
selves, we shall all be individual members of the celes- 
tial orchestra, each an individual member of a per- 
fectly harmonious choir ; those angels who are now 
able to distinguish us truly the one from the other in the 
sense of recognizing each of us to the extent of know- 
ing how we are all performing our respective parts, 
individualize us perfectly in their thoughts and we shall 
all somewhere find that individuality is ours (in a far 
more glorious and perfect sense than now) when it is 
apparently to outward sense lost in the mass of per- 
fected humanity than it ever was when we took an 
arrogant position of aggressive selfhood and endeav- 
ored to annihilate the individuality of every other 
member of the race by setting our interests in conflict 
with those of our brethern. 

In the eternal harmonies of the universe every soul 
must play its own part and sing its own song; in the 
glorious temple of eternity every individual will be 
found in his proper place, and as nature has stamped 
individuality upon every atom, upon every globule, as 
individuality is the very basis of life, true individuality 
is consistent and compatible with perfect accord and 
perfect coalescence. In the divine life let us think of 
ourselves as all forming one great family of the Most 
High, in perfect harmony the one with the other, each 
individual enjoying the blessedness of recognition by 




SPIEITUAL THEKAPEUTICS. 

friends and kindred, not in the earthly, but in the high- 
est spiritual sense forever. 

When we have found our souls, and not until then, 
have we found the purpose of our existence or the 
guiding principle of our life. When we have found 
our inmost identity, we have found that which can 
never desert us; but until then we are wandering on, 
often in complete darkness and never in a very bright 
light. We are all thoroughly differentiated on earth ; 
not only are we endowed with special individuality 
and appointed special works, but we all differ the one 
from the other in our stage of development, and there- 
fore, in our perception of the principle of being. The 
reason why there are so many differences of opinion in 
the world is simply because so many different people 
are obliged to look at matters from their own peculiar 
standpoints; no one can look at a matter from another 
standpoint than his own. All persons have not an 
equally wide horizon, all cannot see equally far, no 
matter how much they may try to ; all cannot hear an 
equal number of sounds, no matter how intently they 
may listen to music ; all cannot smell an equal number 
of perfumes or taste an equal number of flavors, no 
matter how much they may strive to. As we cannot all 
see, hear, taste, smell or touch equally much, some of us 
being far more limited in capacity than others, owing 
to some being further along the line of spiritual develop- 
ment than others, so all again cannot look at 
matters from the same side, some standing as it were 
with face to the north, others to the south, and others 
to the east and west ; those who gaze north ward see 
something that exists ; so do those who look in the 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 127 

other directions, but they do not see the same things ; 
but though they do not see the same things, they 
see different portions of the one truth ; often because 
of not seeing the whole truth, they act like children 
having some blocks of a puzzle, but not all, while 
it is necessary to have every block to complete the 
puzzle or picture ; therefore if you have not all in your 
possession, the puzzle remains a puzzle and the riddle 
continues a riddle. Leave out a single necessary ingre- 
dient in some compound, and you cannot form the com- 
pound until you have procured the lacking ingredient. 

Different people start out in different directions 
and arrive necessarily at different conclusions; they 
ignorantly imagine all others must be wrong if they 
are right, while others may be partially right and they 
partially wrong, but all will at some time learn they 
have each seen a portion of truth, and foolishly imag- 
ined the portion they saw to be the whole ; this error 
was the whole of their mistake. 

One person says, "I believe in fate"; he recog- 
nizes a portion of truth. Another says, " I believe in 
free will"; he recognizes another portion of truth. 
One says, " I believe in foreordination, in predestina- 
tion, in God's sovereignty"; he recognizes a portion 
of truth. Another says, "I believe that every man 
enjoys freedom of will, and has to work out his own 
salvation ; that he is the arbiter of his own fate, and 
that his destiny lies in his own hands"; such an one has 
also discovered a portion of the truth. Now, when we 
inquire how the seseemingly irreconcilable truths are 
all parts of one great truth, it is important for us to 
remember that while certain grand declarations of 



128 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

wisdom are irrefutable, we very often state a principle 
in words correctly, and then argue incorrectly because 
we have not understood the true application of the 
principle as an entirety to all its parts. 

You make a statement, which is perfectly true ; 
" there is an infinite will ; the infinite will cannot be 
thwarted; there is an infinite plan which cannot be 
frustrated ;" but because this is true you go on to say, 
erroneously, that certain other things which are also 
true, cannot be : that man cannot have a free will be- 
cause there is an infinite will for example, which is false 
reasoning from a true principle. The principle is 
sound; there is an infinite will, but you have not discov- 
ered what is the will of the Being whose will is infi- 
nite ; now if it is the will of the Infinite that man 
should enjoy free will, though man's free will must 
necessarily be only so far free as the eternal will or- 
dains it to be free, divine providence permits of the 
freedom of the human will, as a smaller circle enclosed 
within the infinite circle of divine sovereignty. 

To bring this eternal and infinite question to the 
level of our daily actions, and thus bring it within the 
comprehension of the youngest child, we will illustrate 
by the familiar representation of parent and child, 
which is always the highest, sweetest and truest illus- 
tration that can be given of the dealings of the Eter- 
nal One with Ins children. You as a parent are physi- 
cally and mentally a great deal stronger than your 
child ; if you choose you can restrict your child's ac- 
tions so that he can never take a step alone , you can 
so govern and command him, if } r ou will, that he can 
never give utterance to a single opinion you do not ap- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 129 

prove; if you choose to hold your child so thoroughly 
under your control, he never can go out of doors unless 
you take him out, he need never be a moment out of 
your sight, and never deviate a single iota from your 
desire. You would under such a regime be fully car- 
rying out your will as to your child, and in such a 
case it would be your will that your child should 
have no will of his own. 

But if on the other hand you voluntarily give your 
child a certain amount of freedom, you remonstrate 
with him, reason with him, and then say, "Now, you 
have heard what I say and know what I wish, but you 
can do as you like; I advise, recommend and request 
you to do a certain thing, but I permit you to do as 
you choose;" would you not be exercising your will 
discretionally with your child as fully as in the other 
dissimilar case ? In this case it would be your will that 
your child should exercise some will of his own. 

The question for theologians and philosophers to 
decide, is this : Has the Eternal Will ordained that 
we should nave no will, or some will of our own \ Has 
the Eternal Will decreed we should have a limited 
amount of freedom, or no freedom at all ? 

Our teaching is, that the Eternal Will wills us finite 
freedom as a means of developing within us nobility and 
grandeur of disposition. We believe that the posses- 
sion of that gift is the primal cause of the soul's em- 
bodiment. Many Theosophists believe that the soul 
which has forever dwelt in the bosom of the Eternal 
Infinite, the soul being an uncreated spark of the di- 
vine fire, the child of the Infinite Spirit, awakes to the 
consciousnesss of its own individuality and begins' to re- 
8 



130 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

fleet upon it, when an impulse from the Eternal awak- 
ens within it the power of choice. 

There is much truth in the theological doctrine 
of the Fall of Man, and also in the Darwinian 
hypothesis of the ascent of man, for man falls in order 
to rise. The soul does not come in contact with matter, 
does not take up its abode in an earthly tabernacle, and 
enter a terrestrial school to do nothing and learn noth- 
ing; all our earthly discipline or experience is for the 
purpose of developing that individuality and voluntary 
nobility of character which alone makes noble men 
and women, and at length develops celestial angels. 

We may conceive of the soul prior to any earthly 
experience doing right from necessity ; but the same soul 
after all its earthly pilgrimages are completed, returns 
to the angelic home and does right from choice. The 
soul before it has known earthly experience at all obeys 
the divine will automatically as a machine obeys the 
machinist, as an instrument responds to the master hand 
of a performer ; but when the soul goes back to that 
wonderful home in spirit whence it came to earth, it 
has acquired during its term of experience a power to 
love and choose the right, and is therefore no longer an 
automatic machine, but a machine that understands its 
own movement, and instead of obeying the hand that 
works it from necessity, consciously and voluntarily 
obeys from love. Is there not an immense difference 
between unthinking and thoughtful obedience? Be- 
tween reflective and unreflective adoration ? Between 
one who obeys consciously from love, and one who 
obeys from necessity, without realizing any other possi- 
ble course of action than the one he is pursuing? 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 131 

Again to cite the analogy of child and parent, von 
see this truth illustrated ; a very little child obeys you 
without knowing why ; that little child is pure and inno- 
cent; you endow it in mind with every sweet and charm- 
ing attribute of purity, but when you knoAv that the 
manjr trials and tribulations of life lie before that young 
and tender one, though you know that ere the child 
grows up to be a man or woman he or she will have to 
light a way through the world and may fall into many 
pits and pass through a veritable Slough of Despond en 
route to the Celestial City, you feel that out of it 
your beloved one will rise with added experience upon 
the other side, and therefore even though you knew all 
that your children would have to encounter in the 
world, you would still send them out into the world; 
you would not lock them up so that they could never 
be contaminated with a breath of impurity; you would 
not say they will lose their virtue while fighting the bat- 
tle of life, but you still prefer to send them out to fight 
it; then when like valiant soldiers returning from battle, 
though there are scars upon their cheeks, those scars are 
glorious, for they are the evidences of successful en- 
counter with the adversary ; that they have been 
wounded by the enemy makes the boys clearer to you 
than they ever were before. 

Do you not think that in times of war when a 
mother welcomes home her son who has been mutilated 
in battle, but who has been great and noble through 
all, she is more proud of him than when she rocked him 
in his cradle or danced him on her knee as a little babe '( 
It may be that the young man has not always maintained 
a perfectly moral record ; it may be that he has done 



132 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

many things for which he was sorry afterward in his 
soldier life, much that he would fain erase, many mis- 
takes he would not repeat, but still there is more pride, 
more rejoicing (and more cause for it), when the boy 
comes home a bronzed and bearded man with all the 
stain of travel and scars of battle upon him, than when 
he was ushered into the world a sweet little infant who 
did not know the difference between right and wrong. 

"We believe so firmly that all earthly discipline is for 
a good purpose, that all our sufferings and trials are a 
part of our education, that there is a divinity that 
shapes ours ends (not a chance or a fate) that when- 
ever we are called upon to give consolation to those 
in sorrow or bereavement, we feel we can honestly with 
our whole soul tell them that all discipline is for their 
good and they will rise out of it ennobled, strengthened 
and purified. 

"Whenever we meet a poor suffering creature who 
has sinned and suffered, who has, like the prodigal son, 
in the parable, reached even the swine's trough and only 
been brought to a right mind when famishing with 
hunger, we feel that when the discipline is over, when 
the suffering consequent upon the sin has yielded peace- 
able fruits of righteousness, when after having fallen 
into manifold temptations he has developed patience 
and nobility, directly he has renounced his love of evil 
and overcome his infirmity, borne the penalty and 
through it grown wiser, that we are fully justified in 
saying to him — for we have the evidences before us — 
" Thy sins are forgotten, wiped out, outgrown, over- 
come, go in peace." Such was the course always 
pursued by the meek and lowly Jesus and all the world's 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 133 

greatest benefactors everywhere. But remember that 
whilst you are doing wrong in rebelling against the 
higher voice, your own conscience will not allow you 
peace. You may strive for it, other people may 
pronounce it, but your conscience permits you no peace 
until y r ou have overcome the love of evil ; then when 
the dicipline of pain has awakened within you the 
divine love of virtue, though all the world may brand 
you, all the uncharitable people in creation may tell 
you that } 7 ou are not fit for decent society, God speaks 
peace in your heart, the returning prodigal and repent- 
ant Magdalene feels the peace of God which passeth 
all mortal understanding, a peace which cannot be 
bestowed by the world and which the world therefore 
cannot take away. We have all to deal with God as 
a divine Judge in ourselves, the judgment seat is within 
us, but the mercy seat is beyond and above us where 
the Eternal reigns, where angels are, where bright and 
holy ones are who have passed out of great tribulations 
into realms of glory, w r here the pure ones are who have 
outgrown the love of everything but purity. 

There is the mercy seat, so when we approach the 
higher power we approach infinite love, m which there 
is no reproach, but as the infinite love streams down 
upon us, as the light of divine mercy makes its way 
into our souls, telling us there is a higher and better 
way, ever saying, ''Behold, I show unto you a more ex- 
cellent way," that divine life, light and love constitute 
all the fire there is in " purgatory " or " hell," either in 
this world or any other. 

Let us thank God for the " fires of hell," illustra- 
tions of which were drawn by Jesus from the pit of 



134 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Gehenna outside the gate of Jerusalem, wherein all 
the refuse of the city was consumed, Gehenna being a 
sanitary institution that the atmosphere of the city 
might be pure and its streets clean. 

So outside of this world, or the realm of man's 
mortal observation there is an ever-burning fire, and 
when a rich man who cares nothing for his fellow 
creatures while on earth, who is less kind than oriental 
dogs, and will let the dogs pay their serviceable atten- 
tions to the best of their ability to the poor Lazarus 
covered with sores, without taking example from them 
even to the extent of giving the beggar the crumbs 
from his table, when such a selfish miser, who cares for 
nothing and no one but thinks entirely of his own per- 
sonal comfort and luxury finds himself in hell and there 
lifts his eyes in torments, what effect does the fire have 
upon him? When it has burned him so severely that 
he would gladly fall at the feet of the Lazarus whom 
he had spurned, if he could but obtain from him but a 
single drop of water to cool his burning tongue, he 
outgrows his selfishness and pride, and while we are 
not told that the sufferings have as yet abated, before 
they begin to abate they have shown their reformatory 
nature, for that man who was the very embodiment 
of luxurious self-indulgence, the very personification 
of egotism, never thinking previously of any one but 
himself, or of anything beyond his own dinner, his 
own house and his own comfort, even though suffering 
intensely, exclaims, " would that an angel might be 
sent to my brethren lest they also come into this place 
of torment." 

The world wants to know what Jesus really 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 135 

preached, to hear the New Testament explained, 
instead of ridiculed, the hidden wisdom revealed, 
instead of listening to ignorant attacks upon ancient 
spiritual literature made by people who are not capa- 
ble of understanding its true meaning. 

Jesus taught that all suffering by fire, all torment, 
if you will, was God's angel of deliverance leading us 
to higher knowledge and nobler life. Jesus, familiar 
as he must have been with the opinions of the people 
about him, with Jerusalem and its outskirts, with the 
traditional beliefs of the House of Israel, with Tal- 
mudic and Rabbinical literature (having when only 
twelve years of age entered into consultation with the 
learned council of the Sanhedrim, the highest council 
in Israel), understood perfectly that Gehenna was a 
place of purification. In reading the Greek Testament, 
it may not be scholarly to translate the word for ever- 
lasting (as some Universalists have translated it), long- 
enduring, for in several instances the same adjective 
has been variously translated eternal and everlasting 
simply for the sake of euphony, the original being in 
both instances the same. Do not be surprised, when we 
say that we are very glad the Universalists are not right 
in this particular, because if the fire were not eternal, 
if the time ever came when the fire should go out, 
then those who were not thoroughly redeemed, would 
have to remain for eternity in their sins. The divine 
fire which burns eternally, burns in us, as well as 
without us, eternally ; it torments us only until we have 
learned our needed lesson, and then that same fire 
yields us indescribable comfort and delight. The fire 
burns in the moral sense, and who is there that wishes 



136 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

to get rid of conscience, to blot it out so as to have no 
conscience throughout eternity % Not one who thinks 
at all on this subject, can deny that the conscience 
which upbraids and accuses and is the source of our 
greatest misery, when it applauds, is the source of our 
greatest joy. 

If you are seemingly alone in the world, lighting 
for the right, with no friend in the material form to 
stand by you, and your conscience says you are in the 
right, if you feel the Eternal Being sees your heart, 
reads your motive, you would surely rather let every- 
thing else go than have conscience destroj T ecl or your 
sense of the divine omnipresence removed. 

Take away from one who has committed an act of 
murder in the dark (no man having seen him he cannot 
be led to the gallows) all sense of divine scrutiny,of God's 
omnipresence, he might have comparative peace, 
because conscience is as terrible to him as it is beautiful 
and blessed to the other. In the one case " Thou God 
seest me " saves a man from suffering; in the other case 
it drives him to desperation ; in the one instance 
it supports him .even though the whole world is against 
him ; it enables him to so triumph inwardly that though 
his flesh were to perish at the stake he would sing 
praises to the Most High and know it is but a leap 
from flames to glory; but in the other case it compels 
him to throw himself upon human justice, confess his 
crime, or else go raving mad and die in despair, possibly 
by suicide. In both cases it is the same conscience, and 
the application of its working to two diametrically 
opposite states of mind is necessarily divine. Now if 
we follow that poor wretched victim of perverted 



SPIRIT TAL THERAPEUTICS. 137 

instincts into the invisible world, even though he is con- 
demned to execution, or though he commit suicide, 
even though he drink to drown his sorrow, until through 
temporary insanity he is run over by horses in the 
street — no matter what becomes of him, what suffer- 
ings he may have to endure on the other side of the 
grave as well as on this — you will meet him among the 
blessed in eternity; and when you meet him thus, no 
matter when or where, with all his sufferings outlived, 
with all his sins outgrown, with all his miseries forever 
vanquished, that man will possess the same conscience, 
the same realization of right and wrong, though in a 
higher degree, but it will conduce to his bliss among 
the angels; he will then say. -'Thank God for my con- 
science. Thank God for that once dreaded text of 
scripture, ' Thou God seest me', for now I realize the 
truth involved in it as essential to my unending happi- 
ness." 

When we realize that all that once caused us pain, 
suffering or sorrow is necessary to the development of 
our highest happiness, then we shall have made a right 
use of free. will; we shall then enjoy perfect freedom of 
will ; a will to choose between our higher and lower 
self, a will to choose between the hosts of heaven that 
side with our conscience, and the hosts of those yet in 
darkness who side with our passions ; but we shall 
then always choose on the right side. 

TTo are placed here on earth between opposing 
powers; those who urge us up and those who try to 
drag us down: it all comes in the long run to this : 
That we must struggle between conscience and passion, 
for all higher influences reach us through our moral 



138 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

sense, while all lower influences reach us through our 
animal proclivities. 

Let us realize ourselves as ever between the higher 
and the lower spheres, and remember that as our power 
of resistance, like the extent of our knowledge, is not a 
fixed quantity that can never be increased. When we 
are very weak we cannot move a chair out of our way, 
while at another time we can almost car^ a piano upon 
our shoulders. We are continually increasing in bodily 
and mental strength so that we become daily the 
creators of circumstances instead of their creatures, 
and the time will come when we shall acknowledge no 
sovereign but the Eternal Being; when all personal 
wills will have lost their hold upon us, when all ex- 
ternal circumstances will be under our government 
and control, and we who have been faithful over a few 
things w r ill be rulers over many things. 

Our freedom of will is a constantly growing quan- 
tity ; but we can never be free from God's will, and 
when we are sensible Ave never wish to be. When 
we reach our highest condition we shall know God's 
will, and appreciate as well as understand it, both 
love and obey it, then we shall be under no earthly 
control. No one will then be able to enslave us, 
for having outgrowm that condition wherein we are 
servants to our own lower inclinations and proclivi- 
ties, and are therefore creatures and tools of lower 
wills, we shall be servants of God, and shall obey 
no other ruler. We shall obey the Eternal as he 
makes his will known in our souls, because we love 
and appreciate the perfect goodness of his will. And 
thus with no dread of God, but with the understand- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 139 

ing coupled with the love of God ; with no dread of 
punishments, with no irksome sense of being under 
government, we shall obey, because our own higher 
nature feels the beauty and blessedness of obedience ; 
in such condition we are perfectly free in truth, and 
this perfect freedom of our will will be our crown and 
our prize in that glorious state of immortality where 
sin and misery are unknown forever. 



LESSON VIII. 



WHAT IS THE PERFECT WAY AND HOW MAY WE WALK IN IT t 

" Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is per- 
fect . " 

THESE words have been spoken of again and again, 
as implying that which is impossible. How can 
man be perfect even as the Eternal One is perfect ? Can 
man be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent % Can 
man be infinitely wise and loving, pure and just and 
good ? Can man be on a level with the great Eternal 
Being who is the life and the soul of all the universe 
and its myriad forms of existence ? " Can man by search- 
ing find out God," and can he discover absolutely the 
very existence of the divine Being ? 

This is a question that scientists, philosophers and 
theologians have endeavored again and again to answer, 
but have in many instances utterly failed to compre- 
hend. 

If there is difficulty in finding God, in describing 
him, in making known to the world his attributes, what 
must be the difficulty of complying with the injunction 
iS be ye as perfect as the Eternal?' 1 For surely if we 
are to be as perfect as the Eternal we must know every- 
thing about the Eternal and shape our lives voluntarily 
in obedience to our knowledge. 

If, however, there remaineth no longer any mystery 
140 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 141 

for us in the divine nature which our spirit has not 
solved, if there are no impediments in our search for 
God which are not thoroughly removed by the discov- 
eries of intuition, can we not deem it possible for us in 
some sense to obey the commandment, " Be ye perfect 
even as your Father in heaven is perfect. " 

With all reverence Ave make the assertion that even 
God cannot be more perfect than his nature allows 
him to be, and, therefore, if the nature of God is an all 
perfect nature and God lives in perfect harmony with 
the requirements of that all perfect nature, if the divine 
thought, the divine word, the action are all in perfect 
union with the divine ideal, in union with the divine 
sentiment ; then the nature of God is infinitely perfect, 
but it has infinite capacities, infinite powers, infinite 
possibilities. And however glorious our conception of 
the Eternal One may be, however majestic the idea in 
our minds, of the Eternal Majesty of the Infinite, our 
intuition tells us it is impossible for God to be more per- 
fect than his nature allows him to be, and if he is in- 
finitely perfect his nature permits of infinite perfection. 

Why did an Apostle say it is impossible for God to 
lie, but because God is infinite truth, and a nature that 
is infinitely true cannot be finitety false, for infinity 
includes all there is, and outside the pale of infinity 
there can be nothing. Therefore to conceive of an infin- 
itely true God is to conceive of a God who cannot lie 
and who cannot wish to lie, as the infinite will being 
perfectly true to truth can have no emotion in the direc- 
tion of falsehood. We only say that God lives in per- 
fect harmony with his own law, with his own nature, in 
all particulars perfectly good. 



142 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

The beloved Disciple John said, "God is love,'' 
using the noun; he did not only say God is loving or 
God is infinitely lovable, but God is love itself ; love 
is the supreme power. If that declaration is true then 
it is impossible for God to be unkind, it is equally im- 
possible for God to wish to be unkind. And so with all 
the divine attributes, justice, mercy, tenderness, etc. ; 
perfect ion,the infinitude of these attributes precludes the 
possibility of a desire in the infinite mind to act out of 
harmony with the divine conditions. Therefore the 
unlimited must have limitations in a certain sense and 
the limitations of the unlimited are infinite limitations. 
The limitations imposed by infinite goodness render 
impossible a single iota of unkindness : the lim- 
itation of infinite truth renders impossible the smallest 
departure from the strictest line of integrity ; the limi- 
tation of infinite justice percludes the possibility of a 
thought deviating by a hair's breadth from perfect equi- 
ty ; the limitation of infinite love shuts out forever the 
possibility of a single dispensation of Providence — no 
matter how dark and mysterious — proceeding from an 
emotion which is not purely benevolent. 

When we can hold in mind the idea of an all-perfect 
Being, when we can rise above all the conflicting creeds 
which like fogs surround us on earth, when all the 
perplexities and inharmonies born of our ignorance and 
imperfection are overcome and we see with the eye of 
enlightened mind — } 7 ea, with the sight of the soul itself, 
which, is far beyond man's merely intellectual power, 
the vision of eternal goodness, the sight of that eternal 
goodness will prove an absolute panacea for all the 
ills to which imperfect mind is heir. Knowledge of the 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 143 

Supreme Good is the eternal and infinite antidote to 
all sorrow, repining, discontent, misery and dissatisfac- 
tion henceforth forever. But there are many persons 
who maintain there are no evidences that an Eternal 
Being lives, and there are others who maintain that 
even though God exists, God is not all-powerful. John 
Stuart Mill fell into the miserable error of supposing 
that the divine power and its operations were limited, 
because when he looked about him in the world he 
thought he saw equal evidences of divine goodness and 
of its opposite ; he thought the divine goodness had a 
circumference somewhere and that beyond the territory 
occupied by benevolence there was a dark waste occu- 
pied by evil, ignorance and hate. 

We find when we look at the matter closely that 
almost all the religions of the world have started out 
with the assertion, or assumption, that there is one 
God and there is none beside him, and that he is all- 
perfect ; yet they have soon divided the throne of the 
universe between this perfectly good God and inferior 
earthly deities. Without saying anything to hurt the 
feelings of those who differ from us and are not ready 
to accept the statement of pure theism, that goodness 
is supreme in the universe and that there is no supreme 
being but the eternal God, we wish to point out to you 
how very naturally mistakes have been made and yet 
how intolerable and unwarrantable they are because 
they are flagrant errors, direct results of human igno- 
rance and weakness. 

Our first positive affirmation is this : The mind of 
man cannot think beyond possibilities ; there can be 
no fancy, no imagination which transcends the possi- 



144 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

bilities of the universe ; for our imaginations are im 
ages thrown upon our minds, reflections of objects 
upon the retina of the mind's eye, impressions conveyed 
to the interior brain, from which impressions are never 
wholly removed and upon which impressions cannot be 
made unless there is something really in existence ade- 
quate to produce such impressions. So, when people 
say to us this that or the other is all imagination, that 
a person is cured by imagination or terrified and made 
ill by imagination, that one is saved by imagination 
and another ruined by imagination, we answer : it 
may be so, but imagination is a very important factor 
in our constitution, and a very important and influen- 
tial element in human experience, because imaginations 
are always reflected images of realities ; and when we 
are in a condition of mental harmony and health, when 
our inward eyes are open and Ave see things more 
as they really are, when we have learned to make the 
distinction which Longfellow made: "Things are not 
what they seem," seeing things from the standpoint 
of spiritual reality and no longer from the point of 
view of imperfect finite appearance, we shall all de- 
clare goodness supreme in the universe, and God, 
signifying the infinitely good, to be all in all. 

Xo one can deny that m the world's thought as 
expressed in the noblest literature there is found an 
idea of infinite truth, infinite love, infinite wisdom, 
infinite benevolence, and no matter how hard and ter- 
rible the path of life may be for many, no matter how 
great the suffering, how bitter the misery, or how sor- 
rowful the bereavement many have undergone, yet in 
the midst of the most terrible torture which men have 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 145 

ever experienced on earth, faith, genuine loving confi- 
dence in the eternal God, 1ms not been shaken. Irrita- 
ble and shallow people complain because of their petty- 
worries and annoyances there can be no infinite good- 
ness in the universe, for if God were infinitely good, if 
eternal goodness reigned, they would never be sick, 
never suffer, their business affairs would go smoothly, 
their friends would not be removed in the very heyday 
of their youth and prosperhVy, their children would not 
be snatched away while yet infants at the breast, but, 
oh, remember when you hear such wailing notes or are 
inclined thus to complain yourselves, that men, women 
and children have gone to the stake and been burned, 
have been tortured upon the rack, devoured by wild 
beasts, been stoned to death, and yet in the midst of 
the most terrible and excruciating tortures have been 
able to say as the ideal man said in his latest moments, 
" Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." Such 
words have not been uttered only by one whom all 
Christendom has deified and acknowledged as God the 
Son as well as a son of God, but the first Christian 
martyr, Stephen, in the midst of the tortures of ston- 
ing, saw heaven open, and his beloved Master waiting 
to receive him. In the dark days of the persecution 
both of Catholics and Protestants in Europe only a few 
centuries ago, and indeed throughout the history of 
the Christian church, many noble men and women 
from the rack and the flame have seen angels ready to 
welcome them to a higher life ; they have not com- 
plained, they have not felt the sufferings they under- 
went irreconcilable with the infinite goodness of the 
Eternal. 
9 



146 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Now if men and women have actually gone through 
sufferings far more painful than yours, if many have 
absolutely experienced tortures in comparison with 
which your miseries are trivial indeed, and in spite of 
such excessive burdens have not lost their faith in God. 
then the trials you undergo are surely no evidences 
that there is no infinite Being of goodness, since those 
who have undergone far heavier trials have found that 
the divine light could shine through the densest clouds, 
that the infinite goodness could be made manifest even 
in the cruellest chambers of torture. 

When we contrast our load with that of others, 
when instead of always looking at those who are 
favored and fortunate, who live in palaces, who have 
gorgeous apparel and beautiful carriages, if instead of 
always envying the great we descend into the hovels 
of the poor and take our station by the bedside of the 
sufferer who is tortured by the most excruciating pains ; 
in such wretched places we behold oftentimes intense 
joy and peace, perfect confidence in God, perfect trust 
in the eternal wisdom, while very, very often the com- 
fortably housed, the well fed and well clothed, the 
moderately prosperous, are those who, because they do 
not have every thing they desire declare there can be no 
infinitly good Being superintending and controlling, for 
if there were they would have all their ambitions grati- 
fied, all their prayers answered, all their doubts 
removed. 

Through the entire experience of the world, and 
in the history of the universe throughout all its wide 
domain we learn that the perfect way is not the way 
of sudden achievement, or instantaneous fruition. Wo 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 147 

Jearn in all departments of nature, that seeds must be 
deposited in the ground, grow in darkness and then 
burst forth, first into stalk and blade, then into tender 
ear and then at last comes the full corn in the ear. 
We learn that worlds are born gradually, and that they 
work their way slowly up from chaos and an age of 
fire mist, until at length they shine as radiant spheres 
rolling in splendor, as worlds of golden light and glory, 
upon which life manifests itself in perfect freedom and 
entrancing beauty. 

The history of man teaches that man has gradually 
advanced from the savage bushman, who is little super- 
ior in appearance to a monkey, to a man who can con- 
trol the most powerful forces of external nature so that 
the very elements obey him, that by mechanical de- 
vices he can command rain to fall from heaven, even 
employing the lightnings of Jove to convey knowledge, 
as he hurls the very current of life itself (electricity) 
through space, making it fulfill his commands and de- 
liver his messages in all parts of the world. 

The gods of antiquity were only men in perspective ; 
the powers ascribed by cultured polytheists to the 
deities of Greece and Rome, were only powers which 
man himself possesses, and which he will at length per- 
fectly embody and fully unfold and utilize; the gods of 
ancient clays were from a spiritualistic point of view, 
merely human spirits who had ascended already to the 
higher realms, and doubtless, as ancient literature reveals, 
had once been monarchs, rulers, prophets and mighty per- 
sonages on earth ; the powers of gods in human form 
were the actual possibilities of man, and when the mul- 
titude shall have reached the high level of attainment 



148 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

of those who have already passed on to the true higher 
life, the most marvelous powers will be in every one's 
possession to use as he will, but only for good, as great 
power is not in the keeping of the basely disposed, they 
being unequal to its generation as well as to its em- 
ployment. 

The perfect way of man's development is the way of 
evolution, and evolution is the external manifestation of 
involution. Were you able to see into the spiritual 
realm and watch the processes of what you vaguely 
call creation, were you able as scientists to transfer 
your gaze to the spiritual realm and study involution, 
then you would learn first of the descent of spirit, and 
afterwards of the ascent of matter ; then you would per- 
ceive that from the starting point of cause in spirit, 
thoughts and ideas flow outward until they produce 
cellular tissues, protoplasm or germ cells upon earth, 
spirit manifesting itself ever more and more until the 
perfect man stands before you. You would then know 
that spiritual power is needed to create protoplasm, 
and that other actions of the same spiritual power are 
necessary to develop protoplasm into the forms of per- 
fect manhood and womanhood; you would know that 
Lamark in France, Darwin and Spencer in England, and 
all the grand minds that are endeavoring to trace the 
ascent of life, are merely beginning with the outermost 
effect of life and trying to trace it back to the realm of 
causation, as many finding the estuary of a river en- 
deavor to trace the current back to its primal source. 
You can find the mouth of the Nile without any diffi- 
cult}^; anybody could have discovered its mouth, for 
where it empties itself into the sea it is conspicuous in 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. liU 

the eyes of all beholders, but African explorers had to 
proceed with laborious researches year after year and 
perhaps century after century, to find the source of the 
Nile. When physical scientists speak of the source of 
life, of the beginning of life, they only speak of the 
most external manifestations of life, of the point 
where life discharges i-tself in view of all beholders, 
in earthly form. 

But where is the source of life ? The source of life, 
its starting point is away up in the eternal hills, where 
from clouds of angels the stream of existence upon 
earth takes its rise, and flowing gradually through a 
thousand forms, at length manifests the fullness and 
glory of its true form in perfect manhood and woman 
hood. You cannot go back far enough when you sim_ 
ply studying geology, anthropology or astronomy. 
You can only discover effects, and then at last you are 
confronted with the greatest of all problems, but where 
did life come from and what is life? And when you are 
told by spiritual scientists among whom must be num- 
bered all truly eminent theologians and inspired spirit- 
ual teachers, manifested life is an efflux from eternal 
life, no one can say it is not so. Material science knows 
not whether spiritual definitions are correct or not. 
Neither Spencer, Tyndall, Darwin nor any other great 
physicist or sociologist dares to deny the affirmation 
that life is an influx from Deity; all they say is, we 
do not know whether it is or not. Colonel Ingersoll can- 
not logically go farther than that, and does not attempt 
to say more than that he does not know of the origin 
of life. All life originates in spirit, in divine thought, 
in divine idea, and when great and noble scientists, 



150 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

men who have labored year after year until they have 
exhausted the fire and ardor of their physical frames 
in the pursuit of knowledge and the solution of the 
most difficult problems presenting themselves to man's 
understanding, shall be conversed with in the realms of 
the great beyond, when you shall prepare such condi- 
tions of mind that you can enter into true communion 
with the great and glorious army who have ascended to 
the higher life, then there will be disclosures from the 
spiritual state of being explaining every difficulty, solv- 
ing every problem and destroying the Sphinx of mys- 
tery, by revealing the meaning of all that was expressed 
in mysterious symbols, in the glorious architecture and 
art of the East in olden times. 

When men and. women come together without 
prejudice, ready to disarm themselves of all foregone 
conclusions, when they are ready to hear all theologies 
explained in the revolutionary light of a new revela- 
tion, when they are ready to study science intuitively 
as Jesus urged the Jews to read their records spirit 
ually ; when they are ready to accept spiritual interpre 
tations of what science is now revealing, even though 
such interpretation widely differs from the accepted 
interpretations of universities as the command of Jesus 
differed from the letter of Mosaic law, " An e}^e for an 
eye and a tooth for a tooth," they will then be able to 
see as the best Hebrew scholars and the most eminent 
and liberal Christians see to-day, that there is no discord 
whatever between the essence of the Mosaic law and 
the essence of the Gospel of Jesus, that there is no con-: 
flict whatever between spiritual and physical science 
when both are understood. Evolution and involution, 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 151 

will be alike plain when men have listened to the 
noble teachers who speak from the spiritual spheres 
and give the result of their knowledge in the immortal 
world; these can reveal how everv impulse works out- 
ward from spiritual cause to physical effect; all the 
difference between true theology and genuine material 
science is, that true theology begins with Theos — God, 
and true geology with Geos — earth. Working from 
Geos to Theos you can trace the evolution of all earth's 
various forms; working from Theos to Geos you trace 
involution as the cause of all manifestations of in- 
telligence. 

And thus, if life proceeding from God to the atom 
employs theinvolutionary pathway, and returning from 
the atom to the Deity employs the evolutionary pathway, 
then there is no conflict bet ween theology and geology, 
no conflict between the science ol' heaven and the science 
of earth. One science tells you how the life proceeding 
from Deity pulsates in atoms, and the other how the 
pulsation of atomic life can be traced to the Eternal 
Mind; both ways are perfect. The way of travel to the 
circumference is a perfect way, and the way of travel 
back from the circumference to the center is a perfect 
way; and when these two perfect ways have been re- 
solved into the one all-perfect way, then the outward 
and the return journey of spirit t<> matter and matter 
to spirit will be understood as the great truth*' of the 
ages, which all religions and all science have endeavored 
to explain but have not as yet fully interpreted in any 
instance. 

There are a few persons on earth who have found 
the perfect way; a few who have discovered the true 



152 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

relation between spirit and matter, be ween cause and 
effect, between form and its origin in spirit. While 
these wonderful persons do not necessarily belong to 
any Brotherhood or Sisterhood, or to any secret organi- 
zation, while their home is not necessarily in India, 
still the records of astonishingly wonderful works which 
you hear of as being performed by Mahatmas, Adepts 
and others, who have devoted their lives to spiritual 
development, have all been founded upon the fact that 
when man becomes superior to material inclinations 
and has put under his feet all pride, prejudice and vain 
ambition, he becomes as one of the gocls, no longer 
blinded by the dust of matter in his mental eyes. We 
therefore recommend to you a spiritual study of theoso- 
phy as a means of theosophical development, which 
signifies an unfoldment in the knowledge of divine wis- 
dom. We would not advise you to make long pilgrim- 
ages to celebrated shrines in this or any other country, 
or to clothe yourself in haircloth, or to walk with bare 
feet over jagged rocks ; we do not tell you that you 
must leave your family and friends, and hide yourself 
in some retired place in the Himalayan Mountains; we 
do not tell you that your own country and your own 
daily duties are not sufficient for your highest develop- 
ment. 

Mere asceticism has frequently developed self right- 
eousness and vaunted superiority in ascetics, while the 
higher matters of the law, justice, and above all, 
charity, have been neglected. In all exalted teachings 
that have ever been given to mankind, fasting and 
prayer have been put forward as necessary steps to- 
ward the perfect life; perversion has occurred when the 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 153 

true idea of prayer and fasting lias been lost sight of, 
and men have obeyed the letter, but neglected the 
spirit. A person may be no nearer the kingdom of 
Heaven because he eats no meat on Friday, and keeps 
all the vigils and ember days ; but if you subsist upon 
short rations day by day because your means do not 
allow you to have all you would like, or far better, be- 
cause you feed some poor hungry sufferer at your gate; 
if you do not eat your meat because you prefer to give 
it to one who needs it more than yourself, if you go 
about in tattered garments because } T ou have given 
your clothing to keep the cold from the naked body of 
some one who lacked, then your charitable devotion to 
the necessities of others, or rather the spirit which 
causes you to make outward sacrifices, must elevate 
your soul ; you walk then surely in the true way, and 
you have prayed to eternal goodness by cultivating 
divine goodness within your own breast ; having risen 
superior to self love, and having cultivated the love of 
neighbor, you have demonstrated the reality of the 
love of God in your soul. 

Whenever we act from a divine impulse, whenever 
we work to save and help our brethren, we render the 
accepted offering which is acknowledged as the only 
sacrifice that God requires, by the most inspired teach- 
ers of every age. It was the saying of a grand old 
Hebrew prophet, "What doth God require of thee but 
to deal justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with 
him?' 1 Walking with God is walking lovingly and 
honestly with one's fellow beings. Now if any one has 
supposed that rigorous initiations, strange and weird 
incantations, magical circles ami awful rites and cere- 



154 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

monies initiate persons into the perfect way, they have 
surely been deceived by blind leaders of the blind ; 
many who have struggled for perfection on the road of 
magic have found, to their bitter cost, that the blind 
led by the blind both fall into the ditch. A great deal 
of so-galled theosophy and a great many theosophists 
have failed because they were actuated by pride, selfish- 
ness, worldly ambition, by the desire to do something- 
greater than anybody else, and not being actuated by 
pure benevolence, but rather by love of the mysterious. 
In their determination to exalt themselves there has 
been fulfilled in their experience no other promise than 
this : " He that exalteth himself shall be abased." 

But when we go beneath the letter and touch the 
spirit, when we discover the deep and glorious inner 
meaning which lies in all the wisdom of the East; 
when reading wisdom alike from the Sanscrit, Hebrew 
and the Greek, we find that Jesus and Buddha, all the 
lights of the Orient and the Occident, agree in pointing- 
out a perfect way, and we ask, what is that perfect 
way \ Turning to the ideal life of Jesus and to the ideal 
life of Buddha, the Light of Asia, we read in the history 
of both that the great renunciation, the glorious self- 
abnegations, that characterized those great teachers, 
led them to forget all earthly honor, that they might 
win for humanity a crown imperishable. When they 
had lost sight of self and had become nothing in their 
own eyes, having made God and humanity everything, 
then they found what no penance, nor rituals, nor 
ceremonials could teach ; they found the perfect way, 
they became pure in heart, and therefore they saw 
God. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 155 

You are told in the story of Buddha, as it is mag- 
nificently related in verse by Edwin Arnold, that the 
truth came to him only after he had given up all associa- 
tion with his royal family and the splendors of an East- 
ern court, when he no longer adhered to the externals 
of the Brahmin faith and practices, when he no longer 
considered it incumbent upon him to obey the ritual 
requirements of the East, when he overthrew caste 
and put down every form of t}^ranny and carnality, 
when he acknowledged all men as equals, when he was 
kind to every beast of the field, when he was moved 
by love of others and sought no self-gratification ; then 
whilst he was meditating under the holy tree a divine 
revelation came to him, and he found Nirvana, not in 
the loss of his identity, not in the absorption of his 
soul into the essence of Brahm, but in the perfect union 
of his will with the divine will, as a drop in the ocean 
flows harmoniously with all other drops and } r et re- 
tains its individuality intact forever ; though never los- 
ing its identity, there is no conflict, no struggle between 
itself and any other. 

If any ask, what becomes of the individual human 
soul ? Shall I always retain my identity ? We tell you 
that only when you cease to think of self will you find 
your highest self ; when you are no longer concerned 
about your own identity you will have found your 
highest identity ; then will you find the divine image 
within you, and shine forever in resplendent glory and 
know yourselves to be children of the Most High. 

Over and over again we are told we may become 
children of God. We are all children of God now, but 
when we become children of God in a special sense, 



15G Spiritual therapeutics. 

we come to know ourselves as such; when we are intro- 
duced into the knowledge of divine truth it is because 
our spiritual eyes open, and when our inward eyes open 
all the universe is seen by us as it was never seen before; 
when our spiritual ears are unstopped and our lips are 
unclosed, we hear and speak from the soul as we never 
heard or spoke before. 

We are all possessors of divine life, but we are like 
men and women who are heirs to some wonderful in- 
heritance and know not of it; we possess by right jewels 
and treasures beyond all price, but we have not yet found 
them. When you discover your spiritual possessions, 
when you are thoroughly revealed to yourself and know 
what you really are, when you have found } r our deepest 
nature that is within you, you will discover thai you 
are each as a drop in the ocean of God's infinitude; you 
will then be tilled with eternal joy, and will not think 
any more either about forgetting self or preserving 
identity. 

But your identity is Avhat nothing can destroy; 
sense of your identity is the only consciousness that can 
never leave you; it is the only thing that seemingly 
takes care of itself under all circumstances and cannot 
be lost; identity is inseparable from your real being 
which relates you forever to the infinite identity of the 
Eternal. To attain to perfect oneness with Deity 
you must all attain to perfect oneness, i. e. harmony 
with each other; you must all become co-workers, lov- 
ing one another with pure hearts fervently, and not 
preferring yourself or your own interests to those of a 
neighbor; you must bow down no more to the competi- 
tive idol, but acknowledge co-operation or divine com- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 157 

[lightened minds will no longer fall into the 
errors of those communists who though setting out with 
grand and holy purpose, have spoiled their plan or seen 
it ruined by selfishness. Strive to enter into the spirit 
of those great reformers who are actuated alone by 
divine benevolence and you will discern the pattern of 
universal equity. 

When Eobert Owen and Kobert Dale Owen, two of 
the noblest men America has produced, endeavored to 
establish communistic settlements, it was their highest 
ambition to do good and elevate society; they were 
willing to undergo privation and the loss of earthly 
possessions that they might help others; we cannot 
but admire these noble and glorious men; both of them 
were fully conversant before they passed into the spirit- 
ual world, of the reality of immortal life; both were 
spiritualists in the true sense of the word, and endeav- 
ored to enter into profitable relations with spiritual life 
by the cultivation of spirituality, knowing that spirit- 
uality was cultivated by benevolent disposition and 
action. Thev trod in the perfect way as far as they 
could find it, but then why were their endeavors com- 
paratively unsuccessful \ why was so much of their toil 
seemingly fruitless 1 why were their splendid commu- 
nities castles in the air more than anything else? 
Surely because the men and women who undertook to 
walk with them were not so magnanimous as they 
who led the way. When magnanimity and nothing- 
else shall guide persons to form combinations solely 
for the good of the race, then we shall see an ideal 
community ; but the preaching of communism as right 
living, with all the eloquence and argument that can 



158 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

possibly be brought forward in its defense, will fall to 
nothingness until the spirit that imbues the workers in 
the enterprise as well as the founders, is a spirit of 
pure philanthropy. 

We can see no perfect way of doing anything when 
we are imperfect in our thought and desire. There 
can be nothing perfect on the outside until there is a 
perfect state within ; no perfect government, no perfect 
law, no perfect order, no perfect body until there is 
perfect thought within. There must be perfect thought 
first, as all works are embodiments of thought. Ex- 
ternal forms fall short of thought but never transcend 

it. 

The thought must be perfect before the external can 

be. Consider a seed ; can you put an imperfect seed 
into the ground and make it produce a perfect plant ? 
JNo; no sunshine or rain, no process of irrigation, no 
enriching of soil can possibly make an imperfect seed 
bear a perfect plant. Perfection must inhere in the 
seed, and if this be the case then if all climatic influ- 
ences are favorable and it receives the necessary cultiva- 
tion adapted to it, it can unfold into a perfect plant. So 
in our own minds there must be a perfect seed, a per- 
fect thought. "Be ye perfect;" it is within the reach 
of every one of you. Your thought must be a perfect 
seed before it is a perfect acorn, a perfect acorn before 
it is a perfect sapling and a perfect sapling before it is 
a perfect oak So when generation is spiritually 
accomplished there is first a perfect babe, then a per- 
fect child, a perfect }^outh, a perfect young man, a per- 
fect man of mature years, but a babe as a babe may be 
just as perfect in nature and freedom from taint as the . 
perfect man. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 159 

So all along the perfect way, in the pathway of con- 
stant progress there is growth, expansion, uni'oldment, 
ever a further manifestation. But in the perfect way 
there are no worms to eat the seed, no diseases to 
destroy the beauty and symmetry of youth ; no errors 
introduced to mar the plan, no wild oats sown with the 
vain expectation that there will never come a reaping 
time for anything but golden grain. In the perfect 
life there must be Derf ect attention paid to every detail 
of growth. 

What do you call perfect ? That is only perfect 
which is perfect in every detail, but that is perfect 
which during all the stages of its development is per- 
fect as far as it extends. You may be painting a per- 
fect picture — but what do you require for a perfect 
painting? First, a perfect sheet of blank canvas ; then 
you begin to cover it, doing the first day very rudimen- 
tary work indeed, just a little marking upon the can- 
vas, but it is perfect as far as it goes, and you go on 
month after month until your picture is at length a 
master piece in some school of art. 

Now that is a sample of what our life should be; 
that is the idea we should put before our children ; do 
not expect old heads on young shoulders; do not expect 
a child to know as much as a man ; do not expect by a 
single leap or bound to mount up to celestial heights, 
but always move in the right direction ; never turn 
back, go straight ahead ; be sure you are right and 
then keep straight forward. That is the rule of perfec- 
tion. Do the best you can each day. Let the child 
recite one portion of the multiplication table perfectly, 
and then go on and learn the next portion, and so on 



160 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

until he has the whole complete. Learn everything 
thoroughly as you go. 

This is the meaning of " Be ye perfect ; " perfect 
according to your power, according to your knowledge, 
according to your ability : be perfect in your resolves, 
perfect in intention, will, desire, motive. Never say 
anything unless you feel it is right to say it ; never do 
anything unless you feel it is right to do it; never allow 
yourself to indulge a thought unless you feel that 
thought is a rightful and holy one. 

"Be ye perfect even as your Father who is in 
heaven is perfect," because you have the possibilities 
of perfection, because you are in the image and like- 
ness of the all-perfect One, because perfection is the only 
one thing to be tolerated in all stages of advancement. 

Perfection never means transcending the order or 
law of growth ; it does not mean ignoring the slow and 
steady processes of involution and evolution. Let the 
involuted thought and the evoluted action be alike per- 
fect, the one the cause, the other the effect. Then the 
command, " Be ye perfect even as the eternal is per- 
fect," will not be understood by } r ou in any impossible 
sense, but as within the limits of the possible action of 
every one of you. 

Our application of the subject, therefore, is this : 
Have only one master, and that master your highest 
conviction of right. Acknowledge only one God and 
one revelation from God, and that revelation the divine 
voice in your own soul. When you give your children 
moral or religious education, when you call them to- 
gether in a Lyceum and teach them so that all may un- 
derstand, never say a statement is true because it is in 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 161 

the Bible ; never say a thing is right because you tell 
them so ; some time they may find you are mistaken 
and they will grow up to distrust your authority and 
to doubt your position being a warrantable one. 
But say to every child, never do anything that will 
cause you to forfeit your self respect ; always listen for 
the still small voice of the Holy Spirit within you; 
a 1 ways listen to the divine command echoing between 
the cherubim of your moral and intellectual nature ; 
always look for the Shekinah within; alwa}^s remember 
that the highest oracle is within; that the voice of the 
Eternal sounds within }^our innermost being; do what- 
ever you do because you feel it to be right. 

But supposing you are mistaken, what will the 
result of honest mistake be ? Mistakes will teach } r ou 
wisdom. JSTever be discouraged and never look upon 
your work as evil, because that work is not immedi- 
atelv perfect in all the fullness of completion. 

In the perfect life if one lives in harmony with 
highest intention, conforming himself as far as he 
may to his loftiest ideal, he is perfect as far as he can go, 
but not perfect finally because he has not traversed the 
whole of the way. In building a temple you may have 
only the foundation laid, and that may be perfect, but it 
is not a perfect temple ; only when the temple is com- 
pleted can the architect say, " There is a perfect expres- 
sion of perfect thought." 

Here is the true idea of perfect life. In soul we 
generate perfect thought, a perfect ideal ; then we 
have to work it out, laying stone upon stone, until 
that perfect thought is externalized in the perfect 
temple of our manifested being. 
10 



162 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

And when yon feel, "I have committed a sin ; I am 
so sorry ; I thought I acted for the best, but I find I 
made a mistake ; I did wrong ; I have hurt some one 
to whom I would have given the sweetest consolation ;" 
we tell you, you did right, relatively, because you did 
the best you could ; it would be unreasonable on the 
part of God, and, therefore, impossible for him to be 
angry with you. If you did not feel that your acts 
were imperfect, you would settle down in contentment 
and never rise higher. !No act is properly imperfect 
when it is the best you can perform, under the circum- 
stances. 

Let us reverence our ideal of perfection and rest as- 
sured that the way to perfection is ever to act in har- 
mony with the best that we know, so that we may 
ever do better and better and better, until the compara- 
tive changes to the superlative, and we are perfect 
in the purity of our every thought and perfect also in 
the wisdom that enables us to carry our perfect 
thought into perfect effect, which will ever be dis- 
played in a symmetrical mind expressed through the 
instrument of a sound and healthy body. Perfect physi- 
cal health is the ultimate or final consequence on 
earth of perfect thought in spirit, compatible with 
present attainments. 



LESSON IX. 

THE RELIGIOUS INSTINCT; ITS ORIGIN, OROAVTH AND ULTI- 
MATE PERFECTION. 

T.HEKE are many persons who now-a-days question 
the desirability of religion, as many consider the 
word religion implies restrictions antagonistic to liberty, 
maintaining that as religion is derived from religio, 
which signifies to bind, or to bind again, therefore to be 
religious implies to be held in bondage. Now while 
there is no necessary idea of bondage connected with 
religion, we must all admit in a certain sense that we 
must be bound in order to be free. 

There are no two words in the English language 
which mean more directly opposite things than liberty 
and license, than freedom and lawlessness. No one can 
be lawless and yet free; no one can be unmindful of 
the interests of his fellow beings and live as though he 
were the only occupant of the world and enjoy liberty, 
for liberty is a pure, holy, divine and healthy senti- 
ment, which unites man forever and forever with the 
eternally true, with the eternally free. "He is free 
whom the truth makes free, and all are slaves beside," 
is an utterance that has been wisely quoted thousands 
of times in the past, and will be quoted thousands of 
times in the future, as it expresses the true idea of what 
liberty is. Liberty is freedom to serve truth ; freedom 

163 



164 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

to live a life of truth in obedience to one's highest con- 
victions of right and duty. Genuine liberty is liberty 
for the soul, for the spiritual nature, for the immortal 
mind, over which death can have no power and the 
grave no victory. Liberty is a divine and holy realiza- 
tion of our relation to divine law and order, and the 
willing subjection of all our material inclinations to im- 
mortal guidance. Liberty never concerns itself with 
the first person singular, with <nvy affairs or my inter- 
ests; liberty knows nothing of the great 7, but always 
speaks of our interests, of our concerns, of our welfare. 
Liberty, therefore, is in perfect accord with self abne- 
gation, and yet with purest self enjoyment in the spir- 
itual sense. 

Without doubt it is natural to man to love happi- 
ness, and, to search for it, it is natural to the 
human family to try every experiment until they find 
happiness; every creature seeks happiness, and it is 
our supreme conviction that the day is coming in this 
world when everybody on the planet will be happy. 
Our sincere conviction is, that that wonderful goal 
of joy looked forward to by all nations and individuals, 
will one day be found; that as the Eternal Parentis 
an infinitely happy spirit, all children of the one Great 
Eternal are by their very nature, by the essential and 
unchanging constitution of their being ordained to hap- 
piness. Our belief is that all darkness and discord, all 
the pain and trouble through which mankind at large 
is now passing and through which individual minds are 
passing, even beyond the grave, is never anything worse 
than a school discipline, and even though a school be a 
purgatory, it is still an educational institution. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 165 

Dur idea concerning man's existence is, that every 
creature, without exception, is born not only with a 
great desire to be happy but also with an instinct that 
happiness is natural to him and will eventually be real- 
ized by him. 

Happiness can be only attained in one way: in 
purity, not in impurity: in truth, not in error; in love, 
not in hate; in knowledge, not in ignorance; in wisdom, 
not in folly. And as happiness can only be obtained 
in wisdom, knowledge, love, liberty, truth and right- 
eousness, no matter when.- we may be, either in an ex- 
ternal form or in spirit, we must be unhappy as long as 
we are impure, foolish, ignorant, untruthful, unloving, 
unwise or unrighteous; and as all un happiness is the 
result of ignorance and imperfection, it is as the grand 
old Grecian sage, Socrates, described, happiness, good 
and knowledge are all one, while evil, darkness 
ignorance and misery are all one and inseparable : so 
we must all admit that as there is within the mind 
of man an ineradicable desire to be happy, and happi- 
ness can only he found in the one way ordained by 
Eternal Providence, i. e. in compliance with divine 
order, all souls will at length be happy, all lives will 
eventually flow together in one divine channel and all 
feet march together up that great hill upon the summit 
of which stands the city of gold, the symbol of the 
transmutation of all life's perplexities into the absolute 
fullness of eternal harmony. 

Sorrow is often-times an alchemist transmuting 
the baser elements into the more precious. Our per- 
plexities and woes, and even our restless discontent. 
are all servants of the divine plan that works out in- 



166 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

finite good at last ; when we hear the words pronounced 
so often on funeral occasions, u Peace at the last," let 
us pause for a moment and ask, " "What is the last ?" 
The last, Omega, is identical with the first, Alpha. In 
the beginning God created, i. e., in the beginning of 
the history of a planet God began to manifest himself, 
and at the last his manifestation is complete to all 
souls from that planet. In the beginning man was en- 
dowed with a pure and holy soul, immortal, ineffable, 
and at the last, no matter how long that soul may have 
been eclipsed, it shines forth in divine splendor, in 
sheen of glory it bursts from behind the clouds which 
have so long veiled it and caused shortsighted minds to 
deem it lost forever. 

All our imperfections and errors may be compared 
to the mists and fogs, and smoke arising from the 
earth, especially from great manufacturing centers, 
while our souls in their union with the Eternal may be 
compared with the glorious lights of heaven that are 
never diminished or quenched, because earthly factor- 
ies and chimneys fill the air with smoke. 

Here on the earth we are surrounded with imperfec- 
tion and error, we are living in a smoky atmosphere 
and the smoke arises from the chimneys of our houses 
and our factories wherein we do material cooking, and 
engage in material merchandise. We cannot see the 
glorious lights on high when we are in the midst of a 
city whose chimneys fill the air with smoke, but when 
we get some distance out of the chVv 5 though our trav- 
eling brings us no nearer to the heavens above, no 
nearer the glorious sun, no nearer the circling planets 
and the " fixed stars " so very far away, by it we get 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 167 

out of the smoky atmosphere that we ourselves have 
created by our own occupation and our own very im- 
perfect way of doing business; so when we have got 
out of the mental smoke which befogs ideas, out of 
the smoky atmosphere of our doubts and misbeliefs, 
got rid of all unhealthy sentiments which arise from our 
perverted nature and which make impure the atmos- 
phere we breathe — God will have come no nearer to 
us, angels will be no closer to us, divine power no more 
ready to bless us, but we shall see the sun where afore- 
time we saw* the fog; the fog will clear away that hid 
the sun — then will the sun appear. This simile will be 
found very important and easy of application in almost 
all cases. 

Astronomy teaches that the sun is much older than 
the earth but no matter how old it is, the earth could 
know nothing about it until the sun became visible to 
the earth. No matter how old the stars may be the 
earth could know nothing about them until it became 
ready to see them, so from man's standpoint of imper- 
fect observation it appears as though new worlds were 
ever coming into existence, as though new truths 
were ever being born, though from God's point of 
view, from the point of view of the angels who 
have passed beyond the murky shadows of earthly im- 
perfection there are no such new creations, new dispen- 
sations and new revelations as less enlightened minds 
suppose,but they understand howmanin his ever increas- 
ing intelligence draws ever nearer and nearer to a knowl- 
edge of the Eternal and his works. And so when } r ou 
sing, " Nearer my God to thee, nearer to thee," you must 
not imagine that the idea of prayer, when interpreted 



168 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

truthfully, spiritually, philosophically, and scientifically 
carries with it the slightest suggestion that God ever 
changes his disposition toward us; \ 7 ou must never 
suppose for one moment there is any such thing as an 
atonement or reconciliation offered to the offended 
Majesty of Heaven whereby he is importuned to have 
mercy upon the sinner; never suppose there can be 
any opposition in the divine nature between the divine 
attributes, so that mercy and justice are reconcilable by 
vicarious atonement. 

But in the light of a true perception of man's 
spiritual nature he offers atonement who effects recon- 
ciliation, w r ho reveals the fatherly character of the 
Infinite, who removes all that doubt, fear and pride 
which as the smoke filling the earth's atmosphere, hides 
the glorious luminaries of the heavens from man's obser- 
vation, and as theology of old has often concerned itself 
with changes in God, and from the very earliest times 
men have engaged in propitiatory rites, in offering sacri- 
fices to placate a hitherto implacable Deity, as men sup- 
posed that by their altars running with blood, by human 
as well as animal sacrifices they might prevail upon God 
to be merciful — they will learn in the future that God 
was never unreconciled to man, but man has, unfortu- 
nately, often been unreconciled to his brother man, 
and the reconciliation which needs to be effected in 
society to-day is, the unification of all races 3 and the 
identification of all human interests. We must no 
longer remain unreconciled to each other, and in our 
own individual nature we must no longer remain at 
discord with ourselves. Follow out this train of thought 
simply and logically and you will all understand the 
true nature of atonement. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 169 

The religious instinct in man is as natural as the in- 
stinct to walk, talk, eat, clothe ones-self or sleep. Any 
good phrenologist will tell you that the organs of ven- 
eration, spirituality, sublimity, benevolence, conscien- 
tiousness, and all the others which portray religious 
and moral faculties are just as natural as the organ of 
alimentiveness which disposes toward the enjoyment 
of food, or the organ of destructiveness which immod- 
erately developed causes men to be dangerous to one 
another, but when perfectly balanced and wisely un- 
folded gives strength of character without which man 
would have no intellectual vigor or spiritual power. 

The religious sentiments are born in man, and the 
oi'gan of spirituality which phrenology has discovered, 
as well as the organ of veneration, proves the natural 
instinct of worship, which, because natural, may be 
cultivated or repressed, but never totally eradicated. 

Nature worships in every flower that turns its face 
to the sun, offering an act of adoration to the great 
fountain of energy; the animal that looks up to man, a 
dog or horse looking up to his master with loving 
gratitude, displays the instinct of veneration. And 
when men erect high pedestals and place upon them 
statues of great men and women, almost deifying heroes 
and heroines; while they spare no praise and stint no 
gratitude when asked to pour out eulogistic adoration 
at the feet of some benefactor of society, man though 
he calls himself an infidel and avows no faith in God, 
doubting if there be a spiritual or supreme Being, his 
natural instinct of veneration leads him to bow down 
to some superior man. In America there are men who 
acknowledge no supreme Ruler of the universe, who do 



170 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

not believe in erecting houses of worship, and who dis- 
regard all religious sentiment and worship altogether, 
who are ready to almost deify George Washington, 
Abraham Lincoln and other eminent patriots; those 
who read history are so profoundly touched with a 
sense of the majesty — we may also say divinity — of the 
greatest characters who appear upon the historian's 
page, that they consider no monument, no eulogy too 
extravagant when these men are brought before them 
as objects of respect. 

There is in man an irrepressible instinct of venera- 
tion and worship, and when people talk about the time 
coming for worship to cease, for adoration and devotion 
to come to an end, we tell you if that time does come 
man will be born with only half a brain, but as long as 
he is born with a whole brain physiologists and phrenol- 
ogists will still behold the outward indications of senti- 
ments of worship w r ithin the mind. 

This true instinct of worship, veneration, adoration, 
this continual looking up to a higher power is the lever 
in man which lifts him to a higher and more glorious 
life; that moral sense, or conscience, that spiritual faculty 
which is so closely allied to, and, indeed, inseparably 
identified with the distinction between right and wrong, 
or the sense of good and evil, is the magnet within 
rnairs being that attracts him to a higher life, the 
inpiration of the soul within him that causes him to 
rise to a more blessed level and without which moral 
and spiritual progress would be impossible. 

Unfortunately, man has been so ignorant of his true 
nature, that what has been after all the divinest and 
kindest gift of the Eternal to his children, has been 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 1^1 

regarded as the voice of God's displeasure, as the anger 
or wrath wherewith he would smite his enemies. How 
very, very often in human ignorance men denounce as 
cruel that which in days of added wisdom they declare 
to be most kind of all. How very often that parental 
discipline which brings the most tears to the eye and 
the most immediate sorrow to the heart of a child in the 
days of its adminstration, in after years proves itself to 
the absolute satisfaction of the offspring to have been 
the noblest and kindest ministration of fatherly and 
motherly love and wisdom. 

So when we look back through the dim vistas of 
by-gone years, when through the long ages we see 
humanity toiling up the steeps of time, and shedding 
blood even, for what we may now term superstition or 
fanaticism, we find the instinct of worship even within 
the savage breast, deepest down in human nature of all 
instincts, and destined at last to overcome all imperfec- 
tions and shine forth in its native brilliancy as God's 
best gift to man. 

Let us consider briefly some of the forms which this 
natural instinct of worship has already taken to mani- 
fest itself, how it is now manifesting itself, and how 
it is likely, indeed certain, to manifest itself in future. 
Our first proposition is that no one ever worshiped any- 
thing without deeming it in some respect superior to 
himself ; no one ever bowed to any power, force or 
creature without endowing that power, force or creat- 
ure with superior attributes ; and no one ever endowed 
any creature, force or power with superiority until that 
force, power or creature had manifested something that 
looked like superiority to the worshiper. 



172 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Let us revert to the earliest form of savage worship, 
the worship of animals. Wherein does animal superiority 
consist ? Surely in superior physical strength. ISTo one 
can deny for a moment that the larger animals on earth 
are man's superiors physically; in bodily strength, in 
power to protect themselves, in power to fight, they 
most certainly excel!. Poor, illiterate, naked savages, 
not armed with the weapons which intelligent and 
skillful nations have devised, could not protect them- 
selves against the mauraders of the forest ; they were 
stung to death by venomous reptiles they could not 
control ; they were eaten up alive by monsters of the 
forest they could not destroy, but who mercilessly des- 
troyed them ; had they not then good reason to recog- 
nize superior strength in such creatures? Now, as they 
witnessed in animals and reptiles a disposition to do 
them harm, they discovered also that they could appease 
them by offering them food ; that they would often 
eat the food given them instead of destroying them and 
their children ; what was the outcome ? Surely a system 
of sacrifice ; even human sacrifice grew up in the world 
and frequently parents offered their own children to 
monsters ; they offered one child that several might be 
saved ; later on they frequently offered prisoners whom 
they had taken in war, and in still later times they 
offered those who were less perfect than others in order 
that by the sacrifice of one they might save many ; sac- 
rifices to the barbaric gods of all tribes originated with 
fear of animals and the elements. 

When men saw creatures of savage propensities 
holding sway on earth, they soon thought of militant 
powers in heaven, of wrathful and unmerciful gods, es- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 173 

pecially as they saw nature bestowing what seemed to 
them her greatest gifts upon the cruel and ruthless; 
they soon endowed the power that brought everything 
into existence with attributes like those of the serpent, 
the bear, the lion, the tiger and the wolf, and then when 
they turned their eyes to the heavens above, and also 
contemplated the phenomena perpetually transpiring 
upon the earth around them, wind, thunder, lightning, 
volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, cyclones and all forms 
of devastation, which were more active in early times 
than now, did they not naturally endow the powers 
who ruled all things, with awe and majesty, with power 
and might, but with very little love, mercy or tender- 
ness ? And indeed to any one who is not a careful 
scientist, a profound philosopher, or deeply spiritual 
in his thought, the universe certainly suggests the idea 
of wrath mingled with beneficence. To any one who 
cannot read in the future the harmonizing and equaliz- 
ing of all things, this world appears to be given over in 
large measure to powers of darkness, hate and cruelty. 
To those who look only upon the surface, there are no 
satisfactory evidences of a perfectly good God supreme 
in the universe. We do not wonder that awful ideas of 
devils, hells, divine wrath and fiery retribution hold 
sway, when we see the lightings strike the dwellings of 
the innocent as well as of the guilty, when the earth- 
quake does not spare the babe at the breast, or the 
mother who is so necessary to the maintenance of her 
offspring, any more than it spares the murderer; when 
the volcanic eruption has no sympathy for the young 
and tender, any more than for those who have lived a 
life of sin. 



174 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

There is an awful mystery in nature ; a mystery 
which scientists, philosophers and theologians have 
alike endeavored to unravel and have as yet been un- 
able to satisfactorily explain save when from the higher 
realms of spirit and the deepest intuitions of man's 
divine soul a voice has declared this is only a prelude 
to the oratorio, a scaffolding to the temple, which 
when it appears in all its beaut3 r , crowned with 
light, the scaffolding removed, and the noise of 
the workmen hushed, — when all the forces of angry 
waves have subsided and there is a great calm, when 
the rain and wind have ceased, then you will see the 
earth rejuvenated and perfected. Then you will 
know that all is for the best, and the righteous shall 
shine forth in the kingdom of their Father. 

There is wonder and dread all over the world, and 
those poor short-sighted theologians who can see out of 
earth into hell, but cannot see through hell into heaven, 
who can see beyond man to devil, but cannot see 
beyond devil to the angel into which that devil will at 
length be converted, who can see the strife, discord 
and storm, but can not see beyond it to the day of inef- 
fable calm and great glory yet to be revealed — such 
short-sighted gazers into the mysteries of human life 
and destiny are not merely imagining horrors or suppos- 
ing calamities — they simply do not see far enough; their 
point of view does not reach out into the universe far 
enough. 

Until we have more powerful telescopes and greater 
powers of spiritual vision, until we are longer sighted 
with regard to spiritual things, we shall be tormented 
with dread of fiends and hobgoblins and all the awful 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 175 

creatures which people the realms of the unknown; but 
when ignorance dies and we know good, all is for good, 
when brighter light and fuller revelation explain the 
mystery and solve the problem, then because darkness 
is no more, the hobgoblins disappear even from imagina- 
tion, and in the light all will know that there is nothing 
to fear. When in the darkness you are afraid of every- 
thing, even of your own shadow, and often of that most 
of all. . When Emanuel Swedenborg in the last century, 
and Dante centuries before saw into the hells and told 
of states almost too awful to be depicted, they did not 
describe what did not exist, but, Dante, who bad been 
educated in Koman Catholicism and had therefore been 
taught that there was an endless hell for those who 
died in mortal sin, and Swedenborg, who had been 
brought up in the Lutheran faith and taught that those 
who died out of Christ would be damned forever, could 
only modify their ideas of everlasting torment, they 
could not see far enough beyond the hells into the 
heavens, which all must at length reach. Anyono 
standing at a point were he can see but a little way 
before him can describe only what is not very far ahead 
and is apt to imagine there is a boundary line, a horizon, 
and nothing beyond it. A child standing upon the 
shore, with a field-glass, looking across the water 
thinks there is nothing beyond the water — it is all 
water and nothing but water in that direction to this 
vision. But those who have been over seas have found 
land on the other side. You can not show the distant 
land to the child on the shore; you can not, even if 
your sight is excellent, stand on the Pacific slope and 
look across the water, to the Sandwich islands, China, 



I7fi SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Japan or any land whatever, but when travelers have 
been across the water and found land, and one comes 
back to tell the tale, then you accept a revelation from 
the land invisible ; there is water indeed but there is 
land beyond the water. This is but a poor and faint 
illustration of the heavens beyond the hells, of the par 
adise beyond the purgatories, of the good beyond the 
evil, of the light beyond the darkness. 

Looking at matters from your earthly standpoint, 
unless spiritually endowed and enlightened, or in com- 
munion with those who have crossed the seas, you 
know of nothing more than that which follows di- 
rectly upon your present state. After a few short 
years in the earthly body you encounter death and 
the grave, and there is the end of life to physical 
sight or material perception. But there are those 
who can see beyond, and where you declare death 
they declare fullness of life; where you declare de- 
struction they declare resurrection and reconstruc- 
tion. Siva, among the Brahmins, is '-Destroyer" only 
to the ignorant, the same divinity is both Destroyer 
and Reproducer to the enlightened. 

The religious systems of the world must come and 
ox), rise and set, wax and wane, and all that will re- 

rt 7 

main forever is man's perception of absolute truth, 
and this will be perpetually increasing. 

We have already alluded to the worship of- the 
lower creation — to the worship of the dark, brutal 
and belligerent forces of nature, which led to sac- 
rifices of the most fearful character — and we think 
we have accounted for it naturally, that man being 
on a material plane, and surrounded with forces he 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 177 

could not control, and seeing no further than his 
immediate environment, worshiped the physical force 
which was superior to his own ; and there are mil- 
lions of people to day, who, with all their boasted 
intelligence, scientific ability and literary acumen, never 
advance farther than savages, in a spiritual direction, 
thus they only perceive what seems very unjust and 
cruel in natural phenomena. 

Why do the most illumined minds refuse to bow 
before the blind force which is the substitute for God 
among atheists and materialists \ Why do they not 
acknowledge that supreme law or infinite force, a vague 
abstraction in the universe, and declare that is all we 
can know about causation? Why do they not bow 
down and worship the blind "necessity" of modern 
materialism ? 

We have only one answer; that ideal "force" is 
not as good as we are and we will not worship our 
inferior, we will not bow to the materialists' substitute 
for God, because it is an image of clay inferior to the 
substance of which we ourselves are made. 

We claim to have some affection, some intelligence, 
some mercy, some sense of justice, but a blind, unintel- 
ligent force, a mere abstraction, a something not our- 
selves, not endowed with any intelligence, wisdom, love 
or sense of justice, is infinitely our inferior, and that 
which is our inferior calls for our contempt not our 
adoration. 

instead of believing that the universe is guided by 
some unknowable power that brings multitudes into 
existence, mocks them with noble powers and wonder- 
ful endowments, cherishes in their breasts the highest 
12 



178 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

hopes and loftiest sentiments, and then allows a cart 
wheel to run over their body, or some other accident to 
cause their death, and that is the end of them ; instead 
of believing in a power which gives glorious life and 
then allows it to be destroyed by the blundering of a 
drunken cab-driver, or a careless engineer, instead of 
bowing before a power that gives intelligence, hope, 
aspiration, all that constitutes noblest manhood and 
womanhood, and then destroys these attributes in 
a moment b}^ a falling tile or by a missile hurled at 
your head by a careless boy, we prefer to believe 
in an intelligent, controlling power that regards the 
material bod}^ as the most external and superficial 
vesture of man, and sees the man himself forever safely 
alive, forever in spirit. 

If I am a brute, I naturally worship a Digger and 
stronger brute than myself ; if I am merely an animal, I 
naturally worship a larger and stronger animal than 
myself, and if I am a human being, with no other in- 
stincts cultivated, no other powers developed than 
those I share in common with the lower creation, I 
naturally bow to those of the lower creation, who have / 
attributes such as mine but more powerfully developed 
than mine. And thus it is only natural that as long as 
man is on the material plane of thought and affection, 
and does not recognize anything more than his material 
nature, he will invent a material substitute for God, 
which substitute is the direct result of the mammon 
worship of this age, a remote result of the ignorant 
animality of savage times. There is fully as much 
animality and brutality and more treachery in the 
respectable man of business, who does not care how 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 179 

many wives and children he ruins, how many heads of 
families he dooms to misery, and perhaps suicide by 
his tricks in trade, misrepresentations and gambling 
speculations, than in the panther or the wolf. We 
would rather be in the clutches of a tiger than in those 
of a man who lives for self and money only ; we would 
rather trust to the tender mercies of the wild beasts of 
Uhe forest than to those of a creature who has more 
intellect but uses that intellect solely for personal ag- 
grandizement, recognizing nothing beyond buying and 
selling, eating, drinking and getting gain. As long as 
this worship of mammon continues, and to make a for- 
tune is the supreme object of life, so long as education 
has for its watchword, competition, and your most ap- 
proved mottoes : are look out for yourselves, take care of 
number one, there can be no spiritual revelation to sat- 
isfy the highest needs of human nature, there can be no 
sunshine visible in which we can bask with delight. If 
the air is filled with noxious exhalations and the smoke 
from a thousand factory chimneys. Man must get rid of 
the mist and smoke that is continually enveloping him. 
When he is no longer selfish nor brutal, then he will be 
able to accept a glorious revelation from the spiritual 
universe, which is absolutely necessary to happiness 
and a true understanding of the plan of the universe. 

We are ready to make the assertion, extravagant 
though it may appear to many, that we know people 
who have absolutely discovered God. But if they have 
discovered Gocl, have they met a person and had a per- 
sonal interview with an omnipotent spirit in the guise 
of man who proclaimed his deity by name? We an- 
swer they have beheld the divine presence with the eye 



180 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

of the soul; they have become spiritual to the extent 
of entering into conscious relation with the divine 
spirit made known to them in the innermost recesses of 
their being. " Blessed are the pure in heart for they 
shall see God." A great many people quibble at that 
beatitude, many want to know what it means to see 
God. According to the statement itself no one can 
know what it means to " see God " until perfectly pure 
in heart, therefore until they are in that condition 
they have no means of either proving or disproving 
the statement. The sight of God to the pure in heart 
is the full perception that everything is good and for 
the best, that all life will turn out well and all roads 
lead at length to the great terminus of the celestial 
city, that all boats will land at length upon the shore 
of eternal happiness. By perceiving God we mean per- 
ceiving spiritual truth, love, wisdom, goodness and right 
eousness ; perceiving perfect justice in the order of ohe 
universe. And when we have found divine justice ruling 
and governing all we do not trouble ourselves as to 
whether Deity has or has not an anthropomorphic form; 
when we have found divine wisdom, love and truth we do 
not care to ask how love, wisdom and truth are presented 
outwardiv to sense or intellect, we are satisfied with 
the knowledge of the soul, with the perception of the 
interior nature. 

For all discussions in theology concering God's 
personality or impersonality we shall care less than for 
the changing sands on the sea shore. It does not mat- 
ter whether we can decide as to the personality or 
impersonality of God. There are a great many things 
bevond our intellectual range, even beyond our moral 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 181 

preception, and there are a great many mysteries in 
the universe that are beyond us which we do not need 
to settle. 

But if we have found enough to content our souls 
in truth, if we have found enough to still the wild 
beating of our rebellious, sorrowing hearts, to demon- 
strate life immortal where we have hitherto found 
death, and the victor}^ of truth where hitherto we 
imagined the victory of the grave; if we can stand b}^ 
the side of a corpse and yet see a resurrected being 
promoted to a higher state of intelligent existence, if 
we can shed the tear of sympathy with the mourner 
who is bereaved of an earthly presence and yet be 
so convinced that the so-called dead are alive and with 
us, that the tears which flow through ignorance we 
can wipe away ; if we can bring wisdom's consolation 
to the sad heart, if we have the certainty that though 
every earthly prop be destroyed, and every earthly 
opportunity denied, though we have lived our lives 
from the ordinary standpoint in vain, labored and 
toiled for naught, that there is in the spiritual universe 
a crown, a reward, a glorious result for our every un- 
dertaking that can not be observed from earth's plane 
of observation, then we have found the God Ave all 
need to find, for we have found infinite goodness; Infinite 
Good, is "God" which is an old saxon word meaning the 
Good One or the All Good. God then becomes a word 
no longer meaningless upon our lips. All human specu- 
lations concerning God and the life beyond must event- 
ually pass away, all outward forms and ceremonies of 
religion will pass away, but the essence of religion 
will never pass away. Religion may cast aside its 



182 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

outward dress, its pagodas, temples, synagogues and 
churches may all be looked upon some day as things 
of the past and no longer needed ; but supposing the 
outward church does come to an end, how will it come to 
an end? By growth. The church will grow so large 
it will cover the earth, and when the whole earth is a 
temple, then nobody will need a smaller temple. "When 
the temple was small it stood on a little spot of ground, 
and people could easily tell you how large it was ; but 
when the whole earth becomes holy, you can never 
wear your shoes anywhere if you have to remove them 
when you tread on holy ground. 

We believe in the extension of holy ground, in the 
enlarging of consecrated territory so that we can find 
God everywhere. 

Where did Jacob find holy ground ? Out in the wil- 
derness where he had but a stone for his pillow. There 
had been no rite of consecration, no house of worship 
was built there, but he was constrained to remove the 
shoes from his feet for the place whereon he stood w r as 
holy ground. Where did Moses find holy ground, 
where did he see the phenomenon of the burning bush? 
There was no temple built by human hands and dedi- 
cated to the Most High where he received the divine 
message, he was in the solitary unconsecrated desert. 

Where did Jesus tell the woman of Samaria that 
God should be worshiped ? It was not necessary to 
approach a holy mountain, as the Samaritans thought, 
with their ruined temple on its summit ; it was not 
necessary to enter Jerusalem with its temple of unpar- 
alleled magnificence or pause within its walls, for God is 
everywhere. Spirit and truth are the only two essential 
words used in connection with his worship, 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 183 

In the future the religious instinct will be entirely 
disconnected from fear, from all harsh conceptions of 
Deity and moral obligation ; the very word obligatory 
will be removed from the thought of religion and God 
will be worshiped in perfect freedom. 

But some may still ask how can perfect freedom be 
reconciled with religion or religio, which means bind- 
ing % Can we be religious — completely bound — and yet 
enjoy perfect freedom ? Yes, for you can serve your 
father and mother from pure love, you do not fear 
them at all, if you love them perfectly. The youngest 
child can know what it is to feel : father would never 
punish me, nor would mother ; but when they tell me 
what to do I do it because I love them, and because I 
love them I choose to please them. 

The only worship God can care for is the kind of 
worship we have just mentioned, any other is craven, 
and usually selfish. When worship is offered to God 
for the sake of receiving something in return, is not 
the worshiper like a child who obeys his parents not 
from love, but because if he is a good child he may get 
a toy or some sweetmeats, such worship is not religion. 
There are people who are so afraid of God they wor- 
ship in order to escape hell. Congregations in times of 
revival are thrown into hysteria at the thought of 
endless perdition, and then they are said to receive the 
spirit, having prayed for the holy spirit because they 
very naturally did riot wish to drop into fire and 
be burned forever. There is no religion in such exper- 
iences. Where true religion appears is where people 
worship lovingly and truly the eternal God, from grati- 
tude to the God who blesses them ; where their hearts 



184 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

are full of gratitude to the Eternal Fount of all, and 
they love the Eternal with all their hearts, with all 
their souls, with all their minds and with all their 
strength, fear is gone, dread is removed from such 
forever. 

True religion has nothing but love in it. The only 
reason why the men and Avomen of the future will wor- 
ship will be because they love the Eternal. Now as 
God wants nothing, and as you can not possibly do God 
a favor, add to bis glory or bestow T one fraction of 
honor upon the Eternal that He does not eternally pos- 
sess, religion resolves itself into practical philanthropy ; 
and love for the Eternal takes the form of love for all his 
children. Religion, rising in glorious light from its 
chrysalis, transformed into a butterfly, becomes philan- 
thropy, human itarianism. When we support religious 
services in days to come we shall know that others are 
helped by them, and that they generally benefit society ; 
we shall do whatever we can to help our brethren to a 
higher and nobler life. There is a divine utilitarianism 
which recognizes the usefulness of whatsoever tends to 
promote the spiritual nature, and this will be the im- 
petus to all religious observance in da} T s to come. 
Nothing is more important than that doubting and 
nervous persons, in particular, should be helped to a 
spiritual sight of divine goodness, and assisted to realize 
the truth of immortality. Pains, suffering and diseases 
of every name proceed from doubt, fear and sorrow, 
I and to remove these deadly enemies of health and hap- 
piness is to employ the only effective measures to over- 
come sickness and insanity. 



LESSON X. 

HOW CAN WE EXPLAIN MIRACLES SCIENTIFICALLY, AND 
ACCOMPLISH WONDERS APPARENTLY TRANSCENDING THE 
OPERATION OF NATURAL LAW ? 

QUESTIONS similar to the above having poured 
in upon us from every direction, we have felt 
it desirable to devote a special chapter in this work 
to an elucidation, as far as possible, of a problem, 
the very nature of which appears at first sight to 
challenge the ability of even the ablest intellect. But 
when we look carefully at the proposition, and con- 
sider thoughtfully the nature of the inquiry, we shall 
perceive that no so-called miracle has ever claimed to 
be an interference with immutable law ; but only an 
exhibition of spiritual power overcoming the ordinary 
limitations assigned by human infirmity to the oper- 
ation of a law, the scope of which so far transcends 
ordinary comprehension and discovery as to remove 
it as completely from the realm of general observa- 
tion, as the rings belting the planet Saturn are un- 
repealed to unassisted mortal eyesight, but stand out 
in vivid distinctness before the average eye when as- 
sisted by a telescope. 

Spiritual science is no more at variance Avith physi- 
cal science than telescopes are at war with eyes. Spirit- 
ual perception enables us to see far beyond the limits 

185 



186 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

of average observation, thus the only contention there 
can possibly be between spiritual science and physics 
is on the score of unwarrantable negative assumption 
on the part of many physicists. It was always said 
of Darwin that the most conspicuous feature of his 
greatness was his determination to publish his discov- 
eries, and not antagonize in a controversial spirit the 
opinions of those who as yet were not blessed with the 
knowledge which had fallen to his share. Let us all 
emulate Darwin in this respect, be truly thankful for 
all the positive information we can derive from the 
most external source, and at the same time be ever 
ready and desirous to peer more deeply than the outer 
senses can into the realm of spiritual being which ever 
encompasses us, and of which we are now and ever 
denizens. 

No one can be justified in supposing that any 
event no matter how remarkable is due to a suspension 
of law, but is not law infinitely beyond our acquaintance 
with it, we consider the time has already come for a, 
clear forcible exposition of the triumphs of mind over 
matter, not as a contribution to the literature of dog- 
matic theology or speculative philosophy, but of science 
itself. Marie Corelli, a deservedly popular authoress, 
in a most fascinating work which has had a very large 
sale already, A Romance of Two Worlds, has without 
question, in her dissertation upon the nature and ap- 
plication of electricity, done a good deal to prepare 
the public mind, which reads science in the form of 
romance, gladly for yet more explicit and startling dis- 
closures which are to follow ; her method of dealing 
with the occult forces is far in advance of Mr. Sinnetfs 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 187 

in his theosophical novels Karma and United, for 
while Sinnett deals almost exclusively when discoursing 
of phenomenal results, with the wonderful and almost 
the terrible, Marie Corelli shows how in her own case 
especially (if her narrative is to be considered a 
chapter from her own autobiography) the wonderful 
knowledge of the noble hero of the tale Ileliobas is 
directed entirely to three most important ends : spirit- 
ual development, mental improvement and physical well 
being. In the same book a chapter devoted to the Mectric 
Creed* explains very reasonably how Peter was able to 
walk on the sea while faith upheld him, but when he felt 
himself sinking, it w T as at a time when fear overcame him, 
and fear disturbs electrical currents and renders danger 
imminent. Other wonderful doings of the Apostles and 
the strange natural phenomena mentioned frequently in 
connection with telling episodes in the life of Jesus are 
similarly explained, i.e. the electrical theory is applied 
throughout and it works well, especially as hy/man elec- 
tricity is never confounded with mineral, vegetable or 
animal electricity and it has always appeared to us that 
to attribute human force to animal magnetism or to 
call it by that name is to insult manhood and woman- 
hood by unduly extolling the animal emanations. Man 
has an animal nature which links him physically with 
the lower orders of existence, but this lower nature is 
totally unable to accomplish those super-animal results 
which can spring alone from the operation of altogether 
higher capabilities. With persons who refuse to apply 
the scientific method of experiment or who are so satis- 
fied with physical limitations of the most arbitrary 
character that they seek no spiritual light, also with 



188 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

those who ignorantly and pugilist ically denounce what- 
ever is above their crude physical perception,. we refuse 
to enter into controversy, such people will throw down 
a treatise on spiritual themes with a contemptuous 
sneer or they will attack vigorously what they fail to 
understand in a manner which positively compliments 
the work they fondly imagine they demolish, as they 
only succeed in advertising publicly their own shallow 
irascibility and overweening self-conceit. To those alone 
who are in search of light, who are dissatisfied alike 
with theologic and materialistic husks, who can neither 
believe in antiquated supernatural ism nor be content 
with frozen materalism, should teachers and healers 
appeal, we only waste time in seeking to make 
proselytes; hungering and thirsty children of the 
Eternal, our needy brethern and sisters who are 
seeking light, health and peace, and who are will- 
ing to make material sacrifices to secure higher bless- 
ings than can possibly flow through the channels of 
the senses, are the only persons to whom the new ilium- J 
i nation can come, or by whom it will be welcomed,' 
and to these is now being vouchsafed an interpretation 
and exposition of spiritual truth far beyond any light -, 
previously thrown upon life, its origin, nature and des- 
tiny, and the power of man to control the outward ele-j 
ments and most certainly his own body. We acknowl-! 
ed^e without qualification an Infinite Supreme Power J 
of perfect Love and Wisdom, and to the Infinite Being': 
alone will we submit, but while we are absolutely cer-l 
tain that God is the one infinite truth in being, we do 
not allow that we as men and women are unable to so 
utilize and manifest divine power as to exhibit godlike 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 189 

qualities even on earth. There is a passage in the 
Psalms, which exactly states our position : ,w All the 
whole heaven is the Lord's, the earth hath he given to 
the children of men," which signifies that while God 
is supreme in the universe as the life and soul of all, 
man has it in his power to subdue the earth, and there- 
fore we do not raise any objection to the teachings of 
theosophists and transcendentalists w r ho declare that 
man has such resources within himself that ultimately 
he can and will control the raging elements and show 
himself master of the whole earth. Swedenborg's doc- 
trine that man lives from God but appears to live from 
himself is perfectly reasonable, and the necessity of 
man's appearing to live from himself while in reality 
he lives from God,is also made quite clear in the writings 
of this greatest of modern seers. Now as Ave have no 
intention of intrenching, in this lesson, on the views of 
Trinitarians versus Unitarians w T ith regard to the deity 
or divinity of the personal Christ, we shall bring forward 
only such instances from the New Testament as are 
clearly intended to refer to the exercise of a spiritual 
power common to all mankind, but like every gift or 
talent, susceptible to cultivation and needing careful 
culture for its expansion. 

It is a very great mistake to suppose that spiritual 
gifts are so miraculous that they are the possession of 
a privileged few Avho have done nothing to merit them, 
while all others must remain hopelessly destitute of such 
endowments, however much they may desire to possess 
and use them. The manifestation of the Spirit is given 
to everyone without exception, but to ail the same gift 
is not given, and where we often fail is in seeking to 



190 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

obtain what we have not when it would be wisdom on 
our part to cultivate what we have. A formal, routine 
system of school discipline is fatal to normal education, 
as all children are not adapted to the same pursuits, but 
no child, with proper care and training, need become 
or remain a dunce, an idiot or an invalid. Abnormal, 
unhealthy, unlovely conditions are unnatural. All 
works on pathology freely admit this. Then do not 
fall into the error of supposing that any one exists who 
has not some vocation, and who can not, by judicious 
treatment, be brought into a state of manifested health 
and harmony. Jesus chose his immediate followers 
from all ranks and stations. Previous to their call to 
follow him some had been fishermen, but others had 
belonged to the medical profession, and sat at the 
receipt of custom. They continued, in some instances 
at least, to ply their vocations after joining the apos- 
tolic band, as Paul continued his trade as a tent-maker 
after the greatest orations had fallen from his lips. 

Concentration of mind on a given object is the open 
door to success and without it genuine and stable suc- 
cess is impossible in any direction. Prayer and Faith 
must ever go together, as aspiration without confidence 
is well nigh useless, and belief without an endeavor to 
ascend to a higher interior realm is practically futile. 
We can pray without ceasing by unceasingly desiring 
to accomplish a definite result, we can continually ex- 
ercise faith by refusing to allow our thoughts to be 
diverted even for an instant from the good toward 
which we unceasingly aspire, and we can truly fast or 
abstain by so subduing the lower to the higher nature 
that reason is lord over passion, while reason in its turn 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 191 

is rendered subject to the moral sense. These three 
necessities, faith, prayer and fasting can be so explained 
as to prove to every intelligent and fair-minded student 
that the words of Jesus, as recorded by the evangelists, 
are in exact accordance with demonstrable fact, there- 
fore scholarly or sciolistic criticisms matter nothing, for 
while the scholar questions and the sciolist impudently 
denies the authenticity of the gospel tale the enlight- 
ened spiritual scientist assumes a position far in advance 
of historical controversy, a position which is in fact, 
utterly impregnable, for to those who understand the 
law governing the production of marvelous phenomena 
the recorded facts themselves are taken as illustrations 
of the consequences attendant upon a certain course of 
action and line of development, therefore history is ol 
quite secondary importance so far as it refers to time 
and place. It matters not whether persons believed to be 
dead were raised to life in Palestine 1800 or in Egypt 
18,000 years ago, the question is, can the so-called dead 
be raised at all, is there a law which renders their 
resuccitation possible? History furnishes us with 
startling accounts of the prevalence of a power in the 
world confined however to exceptional individuals able 
to restore to physical health and vigor those pronounced 
dead by all other testimony than that of far-seeing 
intelligence consciously possessed by those alone 
whose lives have rendered them superior to every 
ordinary limitation of mortality. Leprosy is instanced 
as being cured by remarkable men in accordance with 
fixed law and unalterable conditions, and when we 
remember that " men of like passions with ourselves " 
accomplished these marvelous feats of spiritual prowess, 



192 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

no claim whatever being made that they were wrought 
only by Jesus, indeed, the exact opposite being posi- 
tively stated in the Bible, we can afford to dismiss 
without attention the silly bombast of those rabid icon- 
oclasts, who think they can wipe out by their absurd 
negations man's confidence in what he can prove for 
himself independent of history, if he only forms the 
acquaintance of a great spiritual truth and harmonizes 
his conduct with his understanding of it. 

One of the most striking illustrations of spiritual 
agency overcoming what has been universally termed 
incurable disease, is the story of Elisha directing JSTaa- 
man, the Syrian, to the mystical Jordan in whose 
cleansing streams every trace of leprosy was washed 
away. Now Elisha, stood in the attitude of a guide, a 
teacher, a director, but he was in no sense a mesmerist, 
neither did he attribute Naaman's recovery to any 
potency inhering in his personality. Elisha was a prophet 
and the successor of a prophet. His fitness to take 
Elijah's place after the latter s translation was deter- 
mined altogether by his clear-sightedness. Elijah says to 
Elisha, if you see me when I am taken from you,it shall 
be evidence to you that my mantle has fallen upon 
you, but if you do not see me the hard thing you have 
asked can not be accomplished. Here at the outset we 
have presented to us a correct view of what Chri stains 
might call apostolic succession. Elisha had been both 
servant, student and companion to Elijah, for a long- 
time, during which period innumerable opportunities 
had been afforded him of attaining the high rank of 
prophet or seer which signifies one in whom the power 
of insight into spiritual things is coupled with the abil- 



SIM RITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 193 

itv to proclaim truth, and lead others into paths of 
wisdom. Elisha had so far profited by his discipleship 
to Elijah, as to have developed his spiritual perception 
to the point of ability to see and describe what was 
occurring on another plane than that of sense, he proves 
by this that his advantages have been improved, and 
that he is,therefore, ready to commence his journey as a 
Avitness to truth against every form of error and idol- 
atry, and he testifies to the divinity of his mission 
by blessing the city into which he first enters, chang- 
ing bitter and unwholesome waters into pure and sweet. 
If we could pause to linger over the incidents in 
Elisha's ministry, we could, we think, convince you 
that his baldness was but typical of the absence 
of material pomp, authority and show which ever 
accompanies the highest type of spiritual worker. 
The children of the city who ridiculed him were those, 
(plentiful in every age and land) who deem exter- 
nals all important and ridicule every truth, and all 
who proclaim it unless it is rendered outwardly attract- 
ive and presented with the pomp and display ever 
characterizing civil and ecclesiastical, imperialistic des- 
potism. The children eaten by bears in the old figura- 
tive story to be found in the Book of Kings are like 
multitudes in Europe and America to-day who in con- 
sequence of slighting the only agent of redemption, the 
spiritual teaching which bids them forego externals and 
cultivate the spirit, find themselves devoured by the she- 
beats of the woods which Swedenborg so aptly 
describes as human affection for earthly and dangerous 
tilings. 

Elisha represents a man of unswerving integrity, 
13 



194 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

and loyalty to principle and conviction, he therefore 
claims nothing for himself, and stands to the afflicted 
Naaman as a wise and helpful teacher and he tells this 
great Syrian captain to bathe seven times in the river 
Jordan. The name Jordan means a stream flowing 
from above, and therefore refers to those spiritual 
blessings which are obtainable only when we divest 
ourselves of confidence in material things, and permit 
the cleansing and illuminating grace of spirit to re- 
move from us all earthly defilements. Naaman, justly 
proud of the beautiful situation of the city of Damas- 
cus, and attached to the broad flowing rivers Abana 
and Pharphar, desires to wash in them and be cleansed, 
but following the line of correspondence we shall see 
that these rivers represented external means of re- 
lief to apply to which in case of leprosy was mani- 
festly absurd, as Oriental medicine and surgery had 
proved hopelessly impotent to relieve that terrible 
disorder. Now, as no miracle can possibly be per- 
formed except in accordance with universal law, Elisha 
could only point Naaman to the fount of healing, he 
could not heal him by any act of personal sovereignty 
or favor, nor in consideration of a proffered reward. 
All of you, who are seeking to excel in blessing others, 
remember always that though you can open doors 
and windows, and let in sunshine, you cannot create 
it, even though you can assist others into the light, 
persuading and directing them by every measure of 
persuasive force, you can not compel any one to avail 
him or herself of the means of salvation. Jesus, we 
are told, could do no mighty works in certain places 
because of the obstinate infidelity of the people, his 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 195 

disciples were directed to leave a sinful, sensual city, 
shaking its very dust from their sandals. No work 
of art has ever been more admired, or portrayed 
deeper pathos than Christ weeping over Jerusalem, 
mourning because the children of Jerusalem would 
not avail themselves of the only means which could 
possibly save them from degradation and distress. 
The great and leading error in modern thought is 
precisely the error of olden times. Call it the will 
of God, or maintain if you please that it is the oper- 
ation of a blind law of necessity (though the latter 
position is insane), there is unmistakably a law in 
the universe which governs and regulates conditions 
so arbitrarily that no one's wishes are respected in 
any case more than were Naaman's preferences for 
the waters of Damascus. 

If the Jordan, or what it corresponded to, possessed 
healing virtue, then a prophet could point out the method 
whereby that regenerative force could be applied to the 
cure of an otherwise incurable disorder, and not only the 
prophet but the captain's servants and friends could 
bring argument and moral suasion to bear to induce the 
suffering ruler to enter and bathe in the healing stream, 
but that was the extent of their united power. The folly 
of those who claim that spiritual scientists or metaphys- 
ical practitioners ignore the law of nature, or that those 
of any name who acknowledge the power of spirit as 
beyond that of "force" or "matter" believe absurdly 
that God changes or the universal order is reversed by 
prayer or any human effort, is commensurate only with 
their ignorance, and were it not for the almost invinci- 
ble strength of blind prejudice it would be impossible 



19tf SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

for the merest tyro in logic, or n child who comprehends 
the ordinary use of language to fail to understand that so- 
called miracles are not in the slightest degree discordant 
with the immutable law and order of the universe,recog- 
nized by materialists as a blind force,but by theists as the 
unvarying expression of divine intelligence. Never? 
under any conceivable circumstances, can two and two 
make other than four, never can oaks be raised except 
from acorns, never can one type be changed into another 
in the whole economy of nature, but nature's resources 
are so little known that he is guilty of insane bombast 
who undertakes in this age of electrical appliances to 
deny that anything may not be accomplished which 
which does not involve a reversal of the order of nature, 
or state a mathematical impossibility. One can never 
be three or seven, but at the same time the single ray of 
white light can be made manifest in three primary 
colors and seven prismatic hues and countless tints and 
shades, thus the essential life of the universe is one life, 
but its expression may be both three fold, seven fold 
and multiform. When in the future direct telegraphic 
communication is established between this earth and 
the planet Mars, it will be by means of an electrical sys- 
tem as natural as the overland telegraph or the sub-marine 
cable. What marvelous intellectual prodigies those 
men are who conceive the idea of modern appliances : 
the Canadian Pacific Railroad running as it does through 
a territory presenting at first sight utterly insurmount- 
able barriers to the skill of the engineer, is a solid 
working testimonv to the fact of mind surmounting anv 
and every material barrier as it unfolds to perceive the 
method of such mastery . 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 197 

Now shall one accept the Brooklyn bridge and 
prospectively the tunnel under the English channel 
uniting France and England and laugh to scorn predic- 
tions of further conquests over earth and tides ? Does 
not the wise man speak very cautiously and with infin- 
ite reserve concerning the wildest dreams of future 
human attainment 1 all who think and observe must con- 
clude that as intelligence unfolds things formerly con- 
sidered utterly be}^ond the reach of possibility as well as 
probability actually will occur. Xo w to apply this precise 
reasoning to spiritual attainments we declare that what 
is meant by the three-fold command, believe, pray, fast, 
is that through the exercise of supreme confidence in 
spirit, coupled with sincere and constant aspiration and 
a complete subjection of the lower appetites to the higher 
promptings to the extent that transmutation is accom- 
plished, wonders of healing can be wrought, truth can 
be stated and applied with reference to the entire 
economy of man's finite expression in external form, 
equaling if not excelling the sublimest works performed 
in ancient Galilee. The Esoteric Magazine, published in 
Boston, constantly publishes very instructive articles 
giving practical directions in this line, all tending to 
prove the immutability of divine law and the certainty 
of success in spiritual directions if the affections are 
weaned from earth and centered in the things of the 
spirit. The question of will is one that is continually re- 
curring and is a subject upon which more misapprehen- 
sion prevails than perhaps any other. Mrs. Eddy and 
those calling themselves Christian scientists in general, 
have much to say against the exercise of personal will. 
Science and Health contains some particularly strong 



198 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

condemnations of mesmerism, but after all, you \vill 
note that Mrs. Eddy's particular aversion is malicious 
mesmerism. Now all mesmeric operation is no more 
necessarily malicious than all speech is malicious. If 
Mrs. Eddy or any one else has discovered malpractice 
among her students and sees a danger resulting from 
the views entertained by some, she is conscientiously and 
humanely fulfilling her duty by calling attention to 
erroneous beliefs and practices, but wholesale condemna- 
tion of what is usually classed as mesmerism is unwise 
as she herself admits it can either hill or cure. Its cura- 
tive proprieties are as serviceable as the constructive 
action of electricity, while its destructive action may be 
likened to the electric flame, striking and demolishing 
a building or blasting a handsome tree. 

Personal will must be subdued to universal divine 
will, or it runs riot and proves itself an outlaw, while 
all selfish abuses of psychology inevitably lead to the 
misery alike of those who operate and those who arc 
operated upon. Hypnotism, now so fashionable, is not 
a desirable form of psychology, as the hypnotic state 
is one of subjective insensibility, but whenever experi- 
ments are successfully proven in such directions, it is 
because the one who entrances is more fully in the light 
than the one entranced. Modern Spiritualism during 
the past four decades has amply illustrated how much 
good and evil can emanate apparently from the same 
source. Pyschologists and Spiritualists will always be 
in danger till they learn that subjection to the higher 
is the only safeguard against control by the lower. 
Our paramount resolve must ever be to educate, not 
coerce, to unite ourselves lovingly, willingly, com- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 199 

pletely with whatever appeals to us as highest and 
divinest in the universe. We can not succeed as rebels 
forever militating against universal order; we can not 
turn the eternal current of infinite energy out of its 
course because we, like straws or tiny boats, are strug- 
gling to float or row against the stream. If, as Mat- 
thew Arnold said, there is a stream of tendency ever 
making for righteousness, is it not wisdom on the part 
of all to seek to move in and with this glorious current, 
not to strive against it ? The prayer of Jesus, " Father, 
not my will, but thine be done," is the very essence 
of profound wisdom, for what man is there however 
great, who can control the Pleiades or Orion to borrow 
appropriate similes from the book of Job '( He is a 
lunatic, mad with pride, staggering through the intoxi- 
cation of vanity, who can gaze at the matchless order 
of the universe and say with the foolish ones, " There 
is no God." The utter puerility of atheism or blank 
materialism is so contemptible as to make every genuine 
rationalist pray that modern infidels may learn wisdom 
from one of their own favorite text-books, Thomas 
Paine' s "Age of Keason," in which that celebrated deist 
reveals atheism in its true light and atheism or infi- 
delity with a ghost, professed by some utterly illogical 
spiritualists, is the most hopelessly chaotic system ever 
presented to any public. 

Now listen to the reasoning of some spiritualists 
who are utterly unwilling to affirm the being of Deity. 
They declare most reasonably that intelligence acts 
through force upon matter. This explanation of the 
phenomena of existence can scarcely be improved upon, 
but it at once strikes the reflective mind that every 



200 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

manifestation of intelligence through matter is the ex- 
pression of intelligence at least commensurate with 
such expression. Now while there are many forms of 
existence below man, displaying far less intelligence 
than man, man is utterly unable to create.* There is a 
law he can not set aside, immutably fixed by an intelli- 
gence far superior to his own. Now this law proves 
God, i. e., Supreme Intelligence, as no law can exist 
save as it is a manifestation of mind, the being of God 
is axiomatically proven through this universal law, and 
the fact that man can discover, obey or rebel against 
this law but can not possibly change it, is to the thinker, 
proof direct of an infinite and unchangeable intelli- 
gence, for law is unknown among men save as it is the 
result and embodiment of intelligence. It would be 
just as reasonable to argue that a state was governed 
by law and then deny the existence of any human will 
back of that law producing and enforcing it, as to deny 
the sovereignty of Infinite Will, Eternal Spirit. Now 
the renunciation of our human will is not required of 
us. Our will is a talent to be used not renounced. The 
true attitude of the human will is an intelligent acqui- 
escence with the divine will, a perfect surrender of 
pride and rebellion, and a loving, harmonious union 
with the Infinite. 

In union is strength, in disunion is impotence. 
Houses divided against themselves cannot stand, and it 
is because men and women are continually warring 
against each other, that they are weak, sick and gener- 
ally wretched and unsuccessful. To gain perfect power 
over the lower self, and to become strong enough to 
resist all defiant elements, to live above the reach of 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS, 201 

disease, is to accomplish a conscious voluntary union 
with the Infinite Will. Now this union with the divine 
is diametrically opposed to the relinquishment of free- 
dom. Our freedom is never so great, never so dearly 
prized as when with an absolutely free spirit, in perfect 
liberty we elect to walk in paths of righteousness and 
peace. To love the divine law, to obey it from love, to 
apprehend something of its perfect wisdom, and to 
choose the path of wisdom and deliberately walk there- 
in, is to follow the only course which intuition and 
coin ui( >n-sense recommend alike. Now if any of you feel 
sick, sad, lonely, desolate, and you turn in thought to 
the Infinite, your cares will be dismissed, }^our burdens 
lifted, your sorrows assuaged, while hope will immedi- 
ately resume the place left vacant by despair. The 
greater works which Jesus said should be performed by 
his disciples, may be understood in two ways : 1st, The 
obvious meaning is that what had hitherto been confined 
to a very circumscribed area should at length cover 
jthe globe ; and 2d, as the minds of men expand, they 
are ever becoming ready for greater marvels than would 
have been of any use before. No matter how much a 
teacher knows, instruction must ever keep pace with 
the comprehension of the scholars; because a learned 
professor can solve an intricate problem in the higher 
mathematics, does not prove that any among his class 
are prepared for its solution before them, and were it 
solved in their presence, it would be practically un- 
solved for all save the professor. If a divine voice 
speaks and but a few can hear what it utters, the mul- 
titude may confound the sound with ordinary thunder, 
the fault is not with the voice that speaks in thrilling 



202 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

tones of perfect distinctness, but with the deaf ears of 
the auditors. The voice of truth is ever speaking, but as 
the world only gradually advances to a point where 
many can interpret the voice of truth or behold 
its form, the voice seems to be ever drawing nearer and 
speaking more clearly to men, the voice speaks as it 
always spoke, the light shines as it always shone, the 
processes of nature are continued as they always 
were, but the hearing ear, the seeing eye, and truly 
understanding heart are only by continuous and 
apparently slow processes of growth unfolded to per- 
ceive and understand these "mysteries." Dr. James 
Martineau, one of the most deeply spiritual minds in 
the Unitarian denomination introduced a beautiful 
canticle into his Ten Services for Public Worship, com- 
mencing with the words : " Blessed be the Lord God of 
ages, who ever delight eth to draw more nigh. In the 
morning of the world he appeareth from afar, in the 
evening he draweth nigh to abide with us forever." This 
quotation conveys the aspect of divine revelation, as seen 
by students of evolution, but as all human perceptions of 
truth are relative, it is no more absolutely true that the 
Eternal One draws gradually nigh to his children, than 
that the sun draws gradually near to the earth. In 
the Mosaic account of creation, the doctrine of gradual 
and successive developments is stated in such a manner 
as to lead the uninitiated to suppose that whoever was 
the author of the Pentateuch, taught the astronomi- 
cal absurdity that the earth was created before the 
sun. Interpret the record in the light of science and 
you will at once perceive that the theory is, that at the 
time when the moon was formed, through the separa- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 203 

tion of an encircling ring from the earth, the sun and 
stars began to appear, just as colors are a new creation 
to a man born blind when he first beholds them, and 
sounds are a new creation to one who was deaf from 
birth, but whose ears are now for the first time un- 
stopped. Transposing the idea of revelation it is at 
once comprehensible and accordant with all science, 
but let it remain in its old groove and it suggests the 
idea of a fitful Deity. Once we understand that the 
ability to perform any wonder is ours, so soon as we 
discover the law which makes a result possible, once 
we get free of the false belief that God or nature is 
partial, once we behold universal law in place of chance 
or caprice, and nothing is any longer impossible save 
a mathematical absurdity. 

Fear in the sense of dread is the great obstacle to 
human liberty, fear in the sense of doubt is the great 
drawback to success in all matters where confident de- 
cision is required, fear in the sense of reverence, respect, 
submission to divine guidance is the begining of wis- 
dom. But in its good sense the word fear is now very 
rarely used, therefore we do not commend to you even 
the fear of God as recommended in the Proverbs of 
Solomon. Perfect love casteth out all fear, we can not 
fear what we love perfectly, fear causes men to tremble 
and cringe even before a partially beloved object, fear 
and love hold divided sway in many a heart and you are 
doubtless all of you able to relate some chapters in 
your own experience when you trembled at the ap- 
proach of one you thought you loved. All that we 
deem superior excites to awe until through the fullness 
of our love, all terror is displaced. Before we can heal 



204 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



ourselves or others perfectly, we must have lost all fear 
and then with liberty to utilize our every faculty and 
gift we shall be equal to every emergency and ready 
at all times to obey the summons of the Spirit. Strive 
to excel in calm confident assurance that all is well, in 
quietness is strength, the calmer we are the more we 
can accomplish. Anything like haste or nervousness is 
at deadly variance with success. Do not seek to fight 
a disease, do not attack an ailment, but transfer your 
thought to the perfection of life immortal and let the 
soul act. This is the secret of power. 



LESSON XI. 

PRACTICAL ADVICE TO STUDENTS, HEALERS AND PATIENTS, 
AND DIRECTIONS FOR THE APPLICATION OF SPIRITUAL 
SCIENCE TO ALL THE AVOCATIONS OF DAILY LIFE. 

ONE of the most misleading errors and yet a very 
common one into which people fall, concerning 
Spiritual Science, is that it is to be studied and prac- 
ticed exclusively for the driving out of physical ail- 
ments and therefore that its study should be almost en- 
tirely confined to those who are seeking to identify 
themselves with a new therapeutic school, or are seek- 
ing to rid themselves of some physical ailment. Then 
again, there is a prevailing impression that the practice 
of healing is extraordinary, that it consists in the men- 
tal utterance of prescribed formulas, and that to heal 
it is necessary to withdraw from the world and relin- 
quish all hold upon common obligations. These state- 
ments are all founded on fact and are in a limited sense 
correct, as they apply to special cases, but taken as a 
whole they are exceedingly misleading, as a very brief 
study of the science will prove to any intelligent in- 
quirer. From the earliest days of which there is any 
written record, the healing art has been practised by 
persons pursuing every imaginable avocation, though 
in ancient times the power to heal seemed especially to 
inhere in those who had devoted themselves particularly 

205 



206 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

to the service of religion. The elders of the church 
alluded to in the Epistle of James, were the wisest and 
most experienced persons in an early Christian associa- 
tion. Elders were chosen because of their spiritual 
endowments of a practical character, and while some 
pursued the work of teachers and healers exclusively, 
others performed even menial labor, and in many in- 
stances the most successful healers have been those 
utterly destitute of worldly means; who have followed 
a laborious occupation and in its pursuit discovered 
their spiritual ability through grateful recognition on 
the part of those whom they have been instrumental 
in relieving. As Felix Adler has said that teachers of 
ethics will be successors of the clergy, so we may state 
that mental healers will succeed to the practice of med- 
ical men and women. But cannot a clergyman widen 
his views and become a teacher of ethics, enlarging his 
sphere of usefulness, instead of abandoning his field 
of effort, provided his knowledge and convictions 
keep pace with the progressive tendencies of the time? 
So may the professors and doctors of medicine outgrow 
their physical limitations and do far more for the relief 
of suffering humanity as their methods become more 
spiritual than they could ever accomplish when limited 
by external scholasticisms. 

Esculapius was a divinity of the old world, a god 
of healing, and while it is customary to call physicians 
Esculapians, every one acquainted with mythology must 
be quite well aware that the name is derived not from 
a study and practice, such as the medical profession 
usually confines itself to to-day, but from a recogni- 
tion among ancient peoples of a healing force in nature 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 207 

pointed out and directed by invincible intelligence. 
No one of any experience, be he physician, surgeon, 
nurse or attendant, will endeavor to deny that by far 
the largest percentage of diseases and accidents pro- 
ceed directly from vice and folly. Subtract from the 
total sum of painful and distressing maladies those 
caused by crimes and indiscretions and you would so 
shorten the list that the few remaining would be 
resolved into the category of simple weaknesses, while 
accidents, proceeding as they do from drunkenness and 
nervous disorders, in almost all instances, are most 
intimately connected with vice. It is useless and 
absurd, indeed, it is far worse, it is positively mis- 
chievous to turn into ridicule the old doctrine of 
suffering as a consequence of sin, for nothing is more 
positively emphasized by modern experience and an 
ever increasing familiarity with the law of heredity. 
Sin is so broad a word, it covers so much both of com- 
mission and omission that many take exception to it as 
they confound it altogether with crime, which is an 
intense and more malignant form of offense. You can 
sin against yourselves ignorantly, you can also sin 
against otters ignorantly, but to commit crime one 
must act deliberately for the injury of another. Now 
under the head of sin may be classed all weak errors, 
all mistakes, all violence done to sense of right and all 
opposition to the law of being. Please observe, we 
do not talk about laws but only law, as laws are of 
human device and are therefore constantly changing 
and in no sense binding. Law is eternal and can never 
be put aside. Laws of mortal enactment and variable 
belief are called laws of mortal mind because they are 



$0% SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

mutable expressions of mutable will, these are often 
more honored in the breach than in the observance 
and they prove themselves mortal because man can 
make, repeal, break, alter and destroy them. 

Divine law is universal. The law of nature is no 
respecter of persons and can not be tampered with or 
evaded by human ingenuity under any circumstances 
whatsoever, therefore, if it were a law of God or nature 
that you should become ill through being in a malarial 
district, there could not be a single healthy inhabitant 
in such a place. Were it a decree of God through nature 
that you should catch cold by sitting in a draught or 
getingyour feet wet, under no circumstances could you 
escape this penalty. Were it due to the action of uni- 
versal law that you should suffer from small-pox, chol- 
era or diphtheria, because it was in the air, no one at 
certain times in certain cities could possibly escape. 
Now, if medical precautions can be taken, if doctors and 
sanitary commissioners advocate antidotes, they must 
at once see that to succumb to such pestilences is totally 
unnecessary, and that those who fall victims do so be- 
cause of a weakness and through a predisposition which 
is vanquishable. Spiritual Science steps in and traces the 
weakness of the physical body to a prior defect in 
mental and moral condition, and therefore its advocates 
and interpreters claim that it is utterly useless to seek 
to overcome physical disability without first ousting 
the demon of error possessing the mind. How more 
than useless it must be to torment an almost heart- 
broken widow or bereaved mother with pills and pow- 
ders, lotions and bandages, when every one knows as 
well as she that her health was excellent before the 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 2< >!> 

departure of her loved one to the invisible state. How 
ridiculous to seek to assuage results of an accusing con- 
science or a perturbed mind with physical appliances, 
for how, in the name of reason or common-sense, can 
any of you suppose that an effect will cease while its 
cause continues in active operation? If you are treat- 
ing one whose sickness originated with bereavement, 
argue immortality to the mind of the sufferer silently 
at first, then as your patient becomes composed, sleeps 
better, and manifests a visible attachment for you, intro- 
duce the subject cautiously in conversation, chiefly in 
inviting and answering questions. Never force a 
doctrine or religious proposition verbally upon any one, 
but direct the thought silently until the patient feels 
its influence and wishes to talk about it. The best 
times forgiving treatment in cities are early morning 
and late evening ; in the country, where the atmos- 
phere is perpetually quiet, midday is as favorable as 
midnight, unless you have active occupation which 
absorbs } T our attention. 

In seeking a healer, continue your search until you 
find a person in natural electric sympathy with your- 
self, one in whom you instinctively believe, and to whom 
you are irresistibly drawn. Be guided far more by in- 
stinctive and intuitive recognition of a power to bless 
than by any outward credentials, all of which may be 
misleading. The only faith in a healer necessary on 
the part of a patient is confidence born of appreciation. 
Whenever you encounter any one who can help you, 
you feel drawn to such an one, and such drawing is 
your instinctive response to good alread}^ received. 
Never tax the credulity of a patient, but when giving a 
14 



210 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

treatment adapt your methods as far as you conscien- 
tiously can to individual requirement and demand. 
Persons who are fond of music can be reached music- 
ally. If you are a musician of any kind, and discover a 
spiritual relationship or adaptability between yourself 
and any sufferer, play the organ, piano, violin or cor- 
net, as the case may be, either with or without the 
accompaniment of song, and cause the notes you strike 
to vibrate to your own consciousness, as echoes of the 
sentiment you wish to convey, mentally if not orally, 
to your patient. You can give this treatment from any 
distance and find it successful, provided you choose a 
time when both you and your patient can be undis- 
turbed. In doing general housework, cooking and 
chamber work in particular, treatments can be success- 
fully given, as you can impart your psychic influence to 
food you prepare, and leave your mental aura in any 
room you have swept or dusted. If your outward 
engagements are those of the clerk, you can reach those 
who are attracted to } r ou, and whom you wish to bene- 
fit, by simply conveying to them, mentally, while hand- 
ing them goods, the same thought you would utter in 
words were they to seek a conversation on the subject. 
In dealing with troublesome children, you must invari- 
ably hold them in mind as the very opposite of what 
they appear, for by so doing you appeal to and stimu- 
late their dormant higher proclivities. Never repeat a 
mistake or call attention to an error ; counteract and 
destroy it by affirming and exhibiting its direct oppo- 
site. Never seek to diagnose disease physically, so as 
to become acquainted with physical defects or derange- 
ments, but always insist upon seeing every part of the 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 211 

body perfectly whole, for by holding- before the mind 
a perfect picture you induce an outward manifestation 
corresponding thereto. Do not use silly or incompre- 
hensible phrases, such as, " You have no head, therefore 
it can not ache," but hold before your own and your 
patient's mind a perfect head, and as all form is essen- 
tially perfect in spirit, and outward symmetry is a result 
of inward harmony, by discarding pathology while 
retaining anatomy and physiology, you never allow an 
image to present itself to thought which you do not 
desire to see reflected or ultimated in externals. 

When seeking for success in legitimate worldly 
enterprises, always remember that you can bring to 
pass whatever you steadfastly adhere to in thought; 
but your success will never be to some one else's 
detriment, but always in a manner conducive to the 
general good. If you are dissatisfied with your pres- 
ent position, but have no other situation to go to, 
stay where you are, and faithfully and unrepiningly 
discharge the duties of your state, but perpetually 
see yourself in mind where you desire to be. If you 
keep a hotel or lodging house, see your rooms filled 
with just the kind of people you desire to occupy 
them, and by persistently so doing you will throw 
out a wave of mental influence which will attract 
to your house the very persons who need what you 
have to offer as much as you need what the}^ have 
to give in return. If you are a teacher in search of 
pupils, a professional person desiring an engagement, 
an artist with pictures to dispose of, a lawyer need- 
ing clients, a lecturer in want of hearers, in a word, 
whatever your necessities may be, do not content your- 



212 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

self with advertising them in public print, or talking 
of them to your friends, but bring into requisition 
that perfectly legitimate occult force with which every 
one is by nature supplied in some degree, and which 
can be cultivated by all by a simple use of judicious 
concentrative methods. 

If any timid souls are afraid of black magic or mal- 
icious mesmerism let them silence their doubts once for 
all by remembering two important facts, one is that in 
order to be influenced by evil there must be a weakness 
in your own condition, which it is the special province 
of metaphysical treatment to overcome, and the other 
that ignorance is no safeguard, but on the contrary 
knowledge alone is power, and to be forewarned is to be 
in a position to get forearmed. Spiritual methods are 
never competitive, but invariabty co-operative. JSTo one 
can link himself in spirit with celestial spheres who 
does not banish from the circle of his immediate thought 
and desire all uncharitable, envious and selfish ambi- 
tions. The spiritual view of the universe and of the 
earth is that there is enough and to spare for all. No 
one needs to go hungry because another is well fed, 
none need be paupers because of the opulence of 
others. Competition and monopoly are gigantic evils, 
and even the entire wage system is a relic of feudalism 
and will soon be peacefully outgrown as spiritual prin- 
ciples are universally taught and applied. Whenever 
you seek to accomplish anything by mental methods, 
first assure yourself by submitting the project to con- 
science that it is right, then proceed at once to claim 
your inheritance. "Why should you be deprived of light 
and air when there is abundance for you without de- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 213 

priving a living creature of any? Why remain victims 
of disease when yon can recover without injuring a 
living thing by your recovery \ Why not enter into the 
realm of truth consciously and enjoy that fuller measure 
of health and ample? supply of all vigor which can 
only conduce to the betterment of the condition of all 
your brethren ? Discard utterly all false notions of con- 
tracting disease, render yourselves positive against dis- 
order by boldly affirming that nothing can possibly affect 
you to your detriment, because you are immortal spirit 
and as such proof against all contamination. 

Taking this firm, strong mental attidude will produce 
a radical change in the state of the body, affirming 
positively in thought with firm conviction will send 
an electric thrill through your entire frame. If the ex- 
tremities have been cold, the lips blue, the cheeks 
colorless, pulse feeble and heart action weak and un- 
certain, you will find any one of these symptoms 
changed so that any medical man would instantly re- 
port a change in the pulse and bodily temperature, 
as all outward conditions are results of mental or affec- 
tional emotions. Though you may not diagnose a case 
or know or say anything about physical conditions, 
mental assenerations and denials change the physical 
state by processes identical with those which make the 
blood boil or turn it to ice, to use common expressions 
on receipt of terrifying or distressing news or under 
provocation of a slight or insult. The body unwit- 
tingly responds to the mental condition, thus it is not 
necessary to know the physical difficulty in order to 
remove it. Diagnosis is a subject which needs very 
careful handling, as from a retrospective point of view 



214 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

it is often valuable in convincing a patient that some 
knowledge derivable only by mental processes is in the 
possession of the healer. This evidence conduces to 
confidence, and provokes therefore a favorable bearing 
to the system presented. Prognosis is often highly ob- 
jectionable, because while it is founded upon a recogni- 
tion of the accuracy of prophetic prediction, it is usually 
utterly estranged from the true idea of prediction, 
which is not to the effect that certain persons must of 
necessity suffer certain pains in future, but only that 
there is a discoverable law of sequence, which can 
never be set aside, which necessitates certain definite 
effects springing from certain defined causes. 

True prediction is prophetic in that it is a state- 
ment of universal law with which the majority are 
unacquainted. Yery few people have any idea of the 
extent to which their lives are influenced prejudicially 
by courses of thought and action, they have been 
accustomed to pursue unthinkingly from servile de- 
votion to custom, fashion, or habit ; therefore it be- 
comes the prime duty of an intelligent mental prac- 
titioner to give salutary advice of a strictly prac- 
tical nature, in accordance with ascertained knowledge 
concerning the inevitable results of thought and con- 
duct. For instance, it is very common for people to 
live together in the closest relationship, and yet men- 
tally antagonize each other and that perpetually. The 
most prevalent source of sickness is unexpressed dis- 
cord, for we must never forget that spiritual science 
teaches the eradication, not the repression of cantan- 
kerous feelings. No greater mistake can possibly be 
made than to endeavor to secure a simulation of good 



SPIKITUAL THEEAPEUTICS. 215 

will not felt, for though an open enemy may be some- 
times dangerous to encounter, the secret foe is always 
the deadliest. Open animosity can be rebutted, and 
the very expression of erroneous feeling is usually fol- 
lowed by a better state of mind, as volcanic eruptions 
are followed by periods when the mountain is in 
comparative repose. Under no circumstances permit 
the little foxes of secret animosities to grow to ma- 
turity and multiply to the destruction of the fruits 
of your domestic vineyards. Remember the sage 
request, " Take us the foxes, the little foxes that 
spoil our vines, for our vines have tender grapes." 
"Let not the sun go down upon your wrath" needs 
to be ever held in remembrance, for nothing is so 
pernicious as to fall asleep in a state of discordant 
feeling, and have one's dreams broken in upon by 
hideous nightmares and delirious fears. When you 
are bodily asleep, your minds are intensely active on 
the psychic plane, while less amenable to outward 
influences, such as words and acts of those about 
you, you are far more sensitive than when awake 
to the thought emanations which are around you, 
and which are sent to you from those any where 
who seek to influence you either for good or ill. In 
treating for nervous affections, general debility and 
chronic ailments of all kinds, you will soon learn 
that secret fears, inharmonious and objectionable de- 
sires are at the root of the malady. To endeavor 
to repress words and actions is more than useless, 
as the mind turned in upon itself seeks gratification 
in lustful and revengeful feelings, which owing to 
the psychic law of attraction and repulsion, bring 



216 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

those who indulge them into the circle of those who 
live in the domain of such foul influence. 

"Whenever you have a difficulty or grievance meet it 
boldly, bravely encounter your adversary in open com- 
bat. If it is in your power to argue a matter out with 
any one who annoys you and who is apt to be vio- 
lent and unreasonable when you are alone together 
procure at least one wise truth-loving third party to act 
as audience, then demand explanation in a calm judicial 
spirit of inquiry. If such opportunities are denied you, 
write to the parties between whom and yourself mis- 
understandings have arisen, assuring them of your utter 
repudiation of all malicious feelings. Never accredit any 
one with evil motive, attribute sin to ignorance, and 
after fully and freely stating your determination to bear 
no grudge and never to retaliate, dismiss the whole 
matter from your mind. Cremate your grievances in 
the fire of universal charity, and from that day forward 
refuse to remember that you ever had a quarrel. When 
you rise to that state of feeling, you are like a granite 
rock, immovable, no matter what breakers of ill-feeling 
from other minds may be directed against you. " For- 
get and forgive " is an imperative command, for the 
mortal memory of error must be destroyed, that the 
immortal perception of truth may assert its supremacy 
at all times, and enable us, whenever we desire it, to 
have for use all the treasures of knowledge we have 
accumulated in our varied experiences. We complain 
of defective memory because we allow ourselves to re- 
member what we ought to forget, and by retaining in 
our minds the recollections of what we should forcibly 
expel Ave clog our channels of communication with our 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 217 

higher or interior selves, wherein are deposited all the 
wisdom we have accumulated. 

In dealing with lack of adaptability between per- 
sons who are compelled to live or do business together, 
the infallible recipe is to carefully look out for some 
one or more traits of character in those who are in 
many ways uncongenial to you. Fix your gaze steadi- 
ly upon their good points and pleasant features to the 
exclusion of regard for all others and not only will you 
protect yourselves from annoyance, but you will be 
benefactors of priceless value to those whom you thus 
regard, for it is an inevitable certaint}^ that whatever 
you acknowledge in those with whom you associate, 
you tend to develope in them and also in yourself. 
Failure to reform and heal springs from dealing with 
the imperfection you desire to exterminate. To oblit- 
erate drunkenness and love of improper pleasure in any 
one who frequents places of evil resort, never try to 
follow the delinquent mentally into dens of vice, but 
hold steadfastly in your own mind the picture of such 
an one where he should be, and doing his duty faithfully. 
Thus the wife of a gambler, or a man who is always at 
his club when he had better be at home, must, ere she 
can reform him, picture him constantly happy in her 
society at his own fireside. She must ever welcome 
him without reproaches or expressions of surprise and 
by constantly holding him in thought as already where 
he should be she will draw him to righteousness by the 
superior attractions of " home, sweet home." A school 
teacher can correct naughty children by ignoring their 
naughtiness and placing them in thought as already 
tractable and just. In a word, the universal rule is 



218 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

reverse the portrait of evil, and by persistently holding 
in mind the image of what you rightly desire to see 
actualized you form mental union with powerful invis- 
ible force which accomplishes its externalization. 



LESSON XII. 



AS we have already given the general outline of 
both the theory and practise of metaphysical 
science as applied to healing in its widest sense, we 
shall only in this last lesson briefly review the ground 
already traversed, and try to help you to see the value of 
those much controverted formulas which, while nothing 
in and of themselves, are nevertheless as forms of sound 
words, calculated to confer inestimable benefit on those 
who use them understanding^, or who are led by hear- 
ing them or seeing them in print, to meditate carefully 
upon the ideas they so tersely embody. You must all 
have noted many times in your experience how vividly 
you have been struck and deeply impressed by some words 
you have heard, not, perhaps, meant for your ears, or 
by some motto you have seen upon the wall of some 
railway waiting room. We have known of cases where 
a scripture text or other motto has prevented suicide. 
One case in particular we will relate as a sample in- 
stance, and we are sure many of our readers can easily 
collect similar anecdotes. A } T oung woman quite alone 
in the world, without any settled religious belief or 
conviction of any kind, poorly educated and inured to 
neglect and misery, was driven to the utmost verge of 

219 



220 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

desperation by the coldness and unkindness of those 
who ought to have befriended her. She was traveling in 
search of work ; everything looked blank before her, 
and as the train stopped at a side station where she 
was expecting to find some employment, but where no 
one met her, she sat down in a dreary waiting- 
room alone and hungry to await the coming of a woman 
who had written to her to accept a hard situation for 
very little pay, and revolved it in her mind whether she 
had not better end her miserable existence in the river 
which was close at hand. Without trust in God or 
man, or in am^ form of spiritual protection, her eyes 
seemed suddenly fascinated by a hitherto unrecognized 
text upon the wall, " The Lord will provide," the 
word will particularly struck her ; it shone out, a cer- 
tain declaration, no faltering may, but a decisive will. 
As she gazed spell-bound at the words, which all the 
while seemed as though they were being burned into 
her consciousness by some invisible agency, the wall 
seemed to grow transparent, and through the appar- 
ently diaphanous substance she saw a figure pointing to 
a pleasant villa residence on the bank of the river far- 
ther up the stream, (which was a winding one) than the 
ordinary eye of a spectator could behold. 

It seemed to her as though a beautiful lady was 
holding the text in one hand over her head, and with 
the other beckoning the girl to follow. So deeply 
impressed was the girl with this vision, which lasted 
for fully half an hour, that when it faded and the 
room resumed its previous bare appearance, she went 
out of the station and followed the course of the river 
a considerable distance without seeing any house at all 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 22i 

resembling the villa of her vision. When almost 
read) 7 to abandon what promised to be a fruitless 
search, and attribute her strange experience to hallu- 
cination, the effect of weariness, she saw rising before 
her in a most picturesque region a house identical with 
the one which had created so forcible an impression on 
her inner consciousness. Hurrying toward it, run- 
ning to the door and eagerly ringing the bell, she 
found herself at once asking the neat young woman 
who answered the door whether the lady of the house 
was in search of some one to do plain needlework or 
assist in the housework. Before the girl had time to 
reply, a clear, commanding, yet gentle voice, said, 
"Show the stranger into the parlour; I wish to see 
her." On entering the room, she stood face to face 
with a beautiful lady in middle life, but looking much 
younger than her years, who said, u So you have an- 
swered my call, have you ? Is it not better to 
come here and work for your living in this pleasant 
place, where you will always be well cared for, than 
go out alone among persons who do not even keep 
their appointments to meet strangers at the depot ? " 
And then, looking very steadfastly at the girl, she said, 
with intense but most kindly emphasis, " The Lord 
did provide not a grave in the river, but a home in the 
valley, for His tired and sorrowing child." At these 
words the girl, who had been standing silent and mo- 
tionless while the stately lady was addressing her, 
impulsively burst forth into eager questioning : " But, 
madam, how could you know r what my thoughts were, 
or anything about me ; you have never been to Bing- 
hampton, where I was born and reared — have you?" 



222 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

The lady replied, with a sweet and knowing smile, 
" No, my child, I have never been to Binghampton, 
and I never saw yoii until to-day, but there are many 
ways of getting acquainted with people, of which you, 
as yet, know nothing. But you must rest to-night 
after you have had some refreshment. Louisa, the 
young woman who answered the door, will provide 
you with all you require, and at nine o'clock to-mor- 
row morning I wish to see you and tell you many 
things it is important for you to understand, with ref- 
erence to the position I offer you in my household. I 
know you are willing to perform its duties and will 
serve your employers faithfully." With many protes- 
tations of fervent gratitude, the weary, but now hope- 
ful and almost happy girl, left the presence of her 
mysterious benefactor, and after a good wholesome 
supper retired to bed and went to sleep in the prettiest 
room she had ever occupied. The apartment was 
simply and inexpensively, but beautifully because ar- 
tistically furnished. Everything spoke of order and 
method, but not an unnecessary article could be de- 
tected anywhere. 

The following morning she awoke precisely at seven 
o'clock hearing her name called, " Marie Florence 
Hepworth, it is time for you to rise." Here was an- 
other surprise. How could anyone in that locality know 
her name ? She had always been called Mary, occasion- 
ally her ears had been offended by that grating mis- 
pronunciation of the soft and lovely Italian Maria 
which seems to be spelt Mayryre, but Marie Florence 
carried her back on the swift wings of childish recol- 
lection to a delightful little chateau in Normandy 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 223 

where a tender mother, who passed to the unseen state 
when she was less than five years of age, said with 
departing breath, " God bless my little Marie Florence 
and keep her forever true to truth " As she was dress- 
ing these words repeated themselves again and again 
to her inward ears, true to truth. What a sublime and 
comprehensive expression ! She resolved to relate her 
experience of this morning to the kind lady in whose 
house she was for the first time in fifteen years 
beginning to feel what truth expressed through love 
might mean. At breakfast, which she took with 
the servants almost in silence, for her heart was too full 
for many words, she seemed to feel a presence looking 
at her and almost touching her, and as she felt that 
presence beside her or bending above her, her food 
seemed filled with a subtle essence of life-giving power 
food had never possesed for her before. She felt palpably 
stronger with each mouthful, and her mind seemed to 
grow clearer with every particle she partook of. 
After finishing her meal she went into the large and 
beautiful garden which skirted the river, and enjoyed 
the songs of birds, the perfume of flowers and the 
general loveliness of the almost enchanted scene until 
the clock on the village church rang out nine, when she 
immediately returned to the house and presented her- 
self to the noble lady to whom she was already so 
deeply indebted, and toward whom the deepest and 
tenderest emotions of gratitude were already stirred in 
her bosom. The lady received her with a gracious smile 
and inviting her to be seated said, " Eow we are ready 
for serious conversation, and as I have much to say to you, 
I have given orders that we shall be quite undisturbed for 



224 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

at least two hours. Come with me to my private apart- 
ment where I do all my specially important work, Ave can 
there talk without fear of interruption. Entering the 
charming boudoir, fitted up with that peculiar grace 
and elegance which seems the natural habitat of truly 
refined people, the girl was at once struck with a mag- 
nificent illumination between the windows, " The Lord 
Will Provide." These words stood out in flashing bril- 
liancy, as though traced in letters of moving fire. From 
the earthly standpoint only a cunning contrivance of 
the decorator's art, but when viewed spiritually, capable 
of opening up a field of mystical research which ages 
can not fully unravel. Taking the girl very gently by 
the hand and kissing her softly on the brow, the lady 
seated her in a chair exactly in front of these wonder- 
ful words, and requesting her to remain quite passive for 
a few moments, said, u relate whatever impression or 
vision comes toyou." After about five minute's silent gaz- 
ing upon the words which riveted the attention of eyes 
and mind at once, she started visibly, and exclaimed, 
" Why, Madam ! I see a thin, white, shining cord running 
through the air all along the road between here and 
the railway station, and it ends just with these same 
words traced upon the wall of the waiting-room wdiere 
I sat yesterday and felt you calling me, for it must have 
been you, or I should never have been led as I have 
been, to this beautiful house." Finding that the girl 
was truly receptive to mental influence of a high and 
practical order, the lady gave her valuable directions and 
much advice of inestimable worth, warning her of 
the danger of dabbling with occult forces for vain 
and sordid purposes, but dwelling chiefly upon the 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 225 

tremendous power for good inherent in thought, which 
is the greatest of all forces, and of which electricity is 
the first born child ; she then proceeded to explain how 
concentration of gaze helps concentration of thought, 
and how it is possible to establish phsychical connection 
between distant persons and places by means of what is 
sometimes called occult telegraphy. The telephone, 
microphone, audiphone and other marvels of nine- 
teenth century skill are all products of a spiritual wave 
of enlightenment now sweeping over the earth and 
inciting inventive genius to outwardly portray in some 
degree the mighty silent power of intelligence which, 
in its higher modes of manifestation, accomplishes by 
invisible methods what physical inventions feebly ex- 
ternalize to the perception of mortal sense. 

As we have no space to continue this narrative which 
will be published in full in a story* setting forth the 
practical workings of the mental telegraph we must 
ask our readers to content themselves with pondering 
over this mystery of the connection between the texts 
in the lady's boudoir and the depot waiting room. 
While cabalistic incantation, crystal seership and other 
marvels and mysteries of ancient occultism may be 
disregarded by multitudes to-day as degrading supersti- 
tions or devices of the evil disposed to lure the unsus- 
pecting to their doom, we ought never to forget that 
the vilest form of black magic is nothing but a reversal 
of the purpose of beneficent mental operation. As you 
do not advise the destruction of the tongue or any 
other member of the human body because of its f re- 

*The Electric Age, a romance of to-day, by W. J. Colville, now 
in press. 



226 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

quent perversion, so we are foolish indeed if we raise 
a cry of alarm either at the approach of spiritualism or 
theosophy, for both those systems contain so much of 
truth, and are expressions of so much hidden power in 
nature, that because the unscrupulous abuse their gifts 
and the ignorant sometimes get into trouble, is no rea- 
son whatever why intelligent people of every phase of 
opinion should not unite to clarify the air of mental 
pestilence by vigorously setting to work to comprehend 
and utilize the divine power of thought ever at their com- 
mand. If the unscrupulous do occasionally deceive the 
unwary, if mercenariness does sometimes eclipse sense 
of duty in those w r ho make gold their idol, the great 
majority of those who are practically engaged in the 
work of teaching and healing by mental methods are 
striving to obtain a clearer insight than ever before 
into the mystic law of spirit which is fathomable by us 
only as we knock on the door of the temple of knowl- 
edge by earnest longing to bless rather than to be 
blessed. 

A formula or set form of words should always ac- 
cord fully with the convictions of those who employ it 
or it cannot be faithfully made use of. In treating gen- 
eral cases, and in striving to keep yourselves fortified, 
terse, simple, comprehensive formulas are often useful. 

NEGATIONS. 

God is Omnipresent Good, therefore there is no evil. 

Matter has neither intelligence, sensation nor sub- 
stance. 

There is neither sin, sickness nor death in Real 
Being. 

15 - 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 227 

God is working through me both to will and to do 
His good pleasure, therefore I need fear no evil. 

AFFIRMATIONS. 

God is Omnipresent Good. 

God is infinite love, wisdom and truth. 

God is Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent. 

God is infinite life and substance. 

God is our Father and Mother. 

God fills all time, space and place. 

I am in God. 

At the center of my being I am one with God. 

As man or woman I cannot get out of God. 

In the Real Being I am Well, because God is my 
health — and He is working through me to will and to 
do His good pleasure. 

These sentences, most of them compiled or selected 
by Mrs. Sara Harris, of Berkeley, Cal., are a good 
sample of formulas of value. 

Our special word of exhortation shall be : Do not 
permit yourselves to be blindly led by any human au- 
thority, however admirable. Eemember that every 
oreat man and woman the world has ever seen was in 
one sense an original theorist. Imitators and copyists 
have never been the great ones in the ranks of science, 
literature or art. And as we admire originality wher- 
ever we find it, as original genius, rather than imitative, 
places the crown of unfading glory upon the brow of 
those who have possessed it, while we do well to pay 
deferential heed to all who would bring us words of 
truth or encouragement, let us acknowledge divine 
principle and not outward appearance, as our guide and 
director at all times and in all things. 



228 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

With love and good will toward all, and malice 
toward none, realizing that the weapons of our warfare 
are spiritual and not carnal, let us go forward in our 
work, hand to hand, shoulder to shoulder and heart to 
heart, and let us ever remember that in union, but not 
in uniformity, there is strength. We do not desire all 
voices to sing anthems in unison, but we all desire to 
weave glorious harmonies in the anthem of our work. 
We desire to create symphonies rather than for all to 
carry the air. When we learn to symphonize ; when 
we learn to harmonize, and thus fill in the different parts 
in the song, and play the different instruments of the 
orchestra ; when we can be like great organs with many 
stops and pedals, producing many variations in sound — 
now soft as the gentlest zephyr, and now wild as the 
roar of the ocean on the occasion of some great storm ; 
when we learn to appreciate the bright red of the 
poppy and the geranium, the purity of the white lily, 
the modest purple of the violet, and the lovely family 
characteristics of the lily of the valley and the little blue 
forget-me-not ; when we can learn to appreciate and im- 
itate the grain of mustard seed, which is the tiniest of 
all seeds, and know that from the smallest beginning 
the greatest result may be evolved, then, never falter- 
ing, but always pressing on, we forget the things behind, 
we forget all discouraging circumstances, and bravely 
press ahead to the radiant goal of perfection, which en- 
amors our delighted vision, and spurs us on to the over- 
coming of the gravest difficulties, if we do but keep our 
mental gaze riveted upon it. We implore you not to 
look back, but to ever look forward. 

When the hosts of Israel had crossed the Eed Sea, 
and had placed their feet upon the borders of another 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 229 

country, the words came from Jehovah to Moses, 
" Speak unto the children of Israel that they go for- 
ward." Not that they look backward, nor that they 
stand still, nor even that they look forward, but that 
they go forward. Let us take this motto for all our 
work : " Go forward," and let us remember that while 
in the letter it may be an allegory, in the spirit it is 
always a fact that Lot's wife, who looks back, is con- 
verted into a pillar of salt, a warning to those who 
come after her. Do not let us put our hands to the plow 
and then look back, and thus become unfit for the 
heavenly kingdom, but let our career be a continual for- 
ward march, and if it is such our success is inevitable. 
If any one character in poetry represents true meta- 
physicians more than another, it is Longfellow's Alpine 
climber, who, in that charming lay, u Excelsior," rep- 
resents the true and glorious child of God and nature, 
who presses on to ultimate conquest, even over seeming 
total defeat. Longfellow's "Excelsior," is the represen- 
tative of all true, noble workers. It stands for every 
true worker and his enterprise. The youth sees a high 
mountain before him ; he determines to climb it. The 
Avorldly wise come to him and say : "Try not the pass/' 
They speak Wth the wisdom of age and experience, 
and they say : " Other people have been dashed to 
pieces; try it not ! It is mad folly to attempt it." The 
girl who loves him represents the affections of the 
lower nature. She comes with all the allurements of 
earthly affection, and urges him to desist from his en- 
terprise, and rest with her, enjoying the sweets of life 
on an earthly plane. He is deaf to the entreaties alike 
of the sage and of the maiden, and pressing on and on, 



230 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

he still holds in his hand " The banner with the strange 
device, Excelsior." He still sings that song, "Higher 
ever higher." 

It seems at last as if he were utterly defeated, . but 
when the monks, engaged in their devotions, and the 
dogs which are employed to ferret out travelers who 
fall asleep in the snow among the Alps, find the body 
of the beautiful boy, stiff and cold, ere they bury it 
there comes a voice from the heavens above, with all 
the light and brilliance of a descending star, and the 
word " Excelsior " is echoed from the heavens. Thus, 
from the uttermost confines of seeming defeat, the 
shout of eternal victory rends the air with the old glad 
note of triumph. 

That same old word which the boy sang in sadness 
and joy and in every hour of loneliness, we too, may 
sing as we press to the same dizzy, but glorious, height 
he so nobly won. In the final verse of Longfellow's 
" Excelsior " are expressed the reward and certain vic- 
tory of all true workers, embodied in the sweetest 
song. All works and all workers, who will place be- 
fore them the highest and the noblest and the best, 
whatever their earthly end may be, whatever the seem- 
ing victory or defeat, must eventually triumph. Of 
one thing we may be sure, that all true, valiant heroes, 
all noble, conscientious, never-to-be-dismayed workers, 
become at length like Longfellow's melodious star, 
whose shining gives light unto others, and encourages 
with the glorious notes of accomplished victory, bid- 
ding them ever to come higher, because, even though 
it be through earthly defeat, genuine victory is 
sure, and though earthly things may fail us, we enter 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 231 

through true devotion the light which ne'er grows dim. 

Let us take for our motto, then, " Excelsior." And 
when that word enters into the very fiber of our 
thought, and becomes one with the very blood and 
sinew of our enterprise ; when we are no longer con- 
tent with lower things, and never gaze backward, but 
always forward ; then for each and all, helping on the 
good work everywhere, victory of the only kind that 
can be loved and appreciated by true lovers of 
humanity is a foregone conclusion, an inevitable cer- 
tainty. And thus let us endeavor to consecrate ourselves 
and make our homes places where the silent influence of 
uplifted thought may bless all who cross the threshold; 
let us all follow our highest inward light. Be true to 
the noblest within you ; look to things eternal, and not 
to things temporal ; delight in service to humanity, and 
not in present and private gratifications ; and love not 
too well the things which perish in the using. 

Hearing one day a company of fashionable people 
discussing a musical entertainment given the previous 
evening before a large and brilliant throng composed 
chiefly of the elite of a fashionable society in a great 
and wealthy city, we were particularly struck with a 
criticism passed upon the performance of a young 
artist, whose rendering of an old, well-worn ballad 
was such as to give the old, familiar air a new 
and deeper meaning than it had ever seemed capable of 
conveying before. As he proceeded with his solo, he 
introduced some charming variations, which, to the 
quick ear of the very few present who had known 
what it was to be introduced in some slight measure to 
the inner sphere of music, (of which mechanical per- 



232 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

formers and professional critics know nothing,) he in- 
terpreted divinely beautiful thoughts never before asso- 
ciated with the song. " I should never have known it," 
was the remark made by several who were comment- 
ing upon the performer's skill, but how different a 
meaning did the same words convey uttered by two 
persons who both ventured to pass an opinion on a 
rarely beautiful musical effort — an effort in which in- 
spired genius blended with the results of careful study 
and diligent application to technique. 

In one case the hard, cold, metallic, musical mechan- 
ician demurred at anything she could style an interpo- 
lation or change of original score ; on the other hand, 
a perception, in some degree, of the spirit, rather than 
the letter, of harmony, enabled the other critic, who 
might more justly and reasonably be called a grateful 
and sympathetic disciple of genius, to respond to the 
electric thrill which always vibrates through an atmos- 
phere pervaded with a subtle force, generated only 
when combinations of sound are effected by a per- 
former who transcends the stereotyped limits of techni- 
cal exactitude. 

When the mind is enveloped in a thick shadow of 
externalism, higher voices than one is accustomed to 
hear produce the rather disagreeable effect of thunder 
on a nervous ear, and this rumbling noise causes aver- 
sion rather than promotes delight. 

To all who are seeking to work in harmony with 
superior thought, our counsel is, do not estimate your 
success in any measure by the amount of appreciation 
you win from a mixed multitude. If you succeed in 
reaching an unusually high goal or summit of attain- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 233 

merit, you will not be appreciated by the masses as 
well as though you stood on a lower level, and were 
nearer their plane of thought ; but it is only by reach- 
ing this sublimer elevation you can scientifically demon- 
strate that all disorders of the mind and body can be 
successfully vanquished through the operation of a 
power entirely beyond the physical. When you 
reach nearer than the multitude to this high station, 
your presence will heal all who are ready to receive a 
blessing through the introduction of purer thought 
into their mental sphere. 

Perfect tranquility of mind, complete absorption in 
one's work through the love of it, and total indiffer- 
ence to the world's censure or applause, are absolutely 
essential to every student who would succeed in giving 
that evidence of ability to demonstrate spiritual science, 
which is indispensable to the truly successful practi- 
tioner. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS- 

UNDER this heading we have replied to a number 
of important queries from all parts of the world 
in the order in which we have received them. O wing- 
to their great number and the amount of ground they 
covered Ave found it totally impossible to attempt any 
more definite classification. 

Question. No. 1. What is teally meant by Meta- 
physical Healing f 

Answer. Metaphysical Healing does not properly 
speaking mean anything more or other than the power 
of thought to overcome all physical derangement. 
Without entering into any lengthened dissertation 
concerning the reality or unreality of matter, before 
we can comprehend the theory of Metaphysical Heal- 
ing we must understand the meaning of the term Meta- 
physical, which signifies "beyond physics* above phys- 
ics" and " mind over rnatter." The above definitions are 
sanctioned by the best lexicographers. If then at the 
outset we simply concede the sovereignty of mind and 
the subserviency of sense we shall be prepared to logic- 
ally admit that no physical condition can offer an 
insuperable obstacle to mind. An intelligent Meta- 
physical Healer who knows something of occult science 
may readily understand how every human thought is 
a magnet attracting kindred, and repelling antagonistic 
thought. If we think bright, happy, useful thoughts, 

334 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 235 

we gather or accrete to us a force like unto that we 
send forth into the ambient psychic atmosphere, we 
thereby are related to whatsoever is true, pure and 
harmonious, but just as surely, if we entertain sad, 
erroneous thoughts, do we draw to us mental influences 
of a darker hue. 

This fact is pretty generally conceded at present 
among students of psychic matters, still it is very neces- 
sary to persist in affirming this continuously, when 
called upon to treat those in whose minds, knowledge 
of spiritual law is at best but an uncertain light. 

The germ theon 1 - of disease now so much in vogue 
in medical circles, and said to be in nuury instances 
proven by the microscope, offers no impediment in the 
way of accepting Metaphysical ideas, for the very fact 
of multitudes escaping when contagion is in the air 
proves beyond question that we must be in a receptive 
state, or we cannot take in bacteria. 

Now, while all physicians allow that susceptibility 
in one instance and non-susceptibility in another 
answers the query, " Why do some people suffer from 
infection while others escape?'' it is only the Meta- 
physician who leaves the bodily condition behind and 
goes in search of a mental cause for such varieck phys- 
ical states. We do not deny that persons take cola and 
suffer in various ways because of their bodily condition, 
but what we do most persistently maintain is (that 
physical states are invariably the result of mental./ 

Seek the cause of physical susceptibility or weak- 
ness, in indecision, fear or some still worse emotion that 
has lowered the tone of your vitality. Succeed in 
changing the thought radically, and the physical state 
alters of necessity. 



236 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Ques. No. 2. Will you define the nature of thought 
and how it acts on the body f 

Ans. To fully define the nature of thought and 
state just how it acts on the body would indeed require 
much ability, time and space, in all three of which 
necessary commodities we feel ourselves in the present 
instance, at least, sadly deficient. 

If "a word to the wise is sufficient," we trust to all 
our readers being wise enough to let the following brief 
and humble word drop as a seed into the fertile soil of 
their receptive minds, in which it may quickly germin- 
ate like a grain of mustard seed into a prodigious tree. 
Thought we conceive to be generated by idea, through 
a process of mental friction; as two hard substances 
being rubbed together emit sparks and kindle flame, so 
two ideas, either two ideas of the same individual, or 
one of the individual's and one of another's coining 
together, produce a result, and that result we call 
thought, which is less than idea, though it must be a 
partial expression and outcome of some idea. We some- 
times generate thoughts, and oftener still do we receive 
them; when we receive them we frequenth r call them 
impressions, but nothing can make an impression on us 
unless we are in an impressible condition. 

Matter is not necessarily a myth, but whatever it is, 
it is less than mind and is included in it. If matter in 
its last analysis is force, then what is force ? Thoughts 
are things, and therefore can be felt, and under favor- 
ing circumstances can be seen and heard also. 

A thought can strike your mind and wound it just 
as a stone can strike your bod}^. By dexterous mental 
movemeut you can often dodge an unpleasant thought 



SPIRITUAL THKKAl'KUTICS. 237 

when you feel it coming, as you can avoid being hit by 
a stone flung toward you by physical dexterity. Those 
truly appareled in Spiritual sheen are like knights 
coated in armor of mail through which a bullet cannot 
pass. Again we must refer to occult science to prove 
our reasoning. We are constantly generating an aura 
which perpetually surrounds us. If this aura is of the 
higher type, the result of exalted modes of thinking 
and aspiring, it renders us absolutely impervious to the 
attacks of disagreeable thought, thus we become lifted 
to a region where we are no longer wounded or made 
angry by anything or any body. 

All outward things commonly called material are 
correspondences and results of things invisible, thus as 
our mental state governs our mental susceptibility it 
reactionary and ultimately determines our physical 
state. 

Ques. No. 3. Can we treat ourselves metaphysically 
for our own regeneration im the same way that we can 
treat others f 

Axs. Most decidedly we can, though it must be 
admitted that it is a more difficult task to treat our- 
selves than others for the obvious reason that when we 
most sorely need treatment we are in the worst condi- 
tion for giving treatment. Regeneration is a very 
large word and means vastly more than we can now 
explain in detail, but as it certainly includes the idea 
of development and reconstruction we can simply 
affirm and will content ourselves with affirming that 
regeneration is most readily accomplished by deliber- 
ately retiring from the outer world in thought as well 
as action, and then in some calm retreat at some con- 



238 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

venient hour, either quite by ourselves or in company 
with some exceedingly congenial friend, fix our mind 
on whatever we most earnestly desire, and this object 
of our desire we must look upon with our mental vision 
as the artist gazes upon his picture, the architect upon 
his plan, the inventor upon his machine, as already per- 
fectly externalized while yet not a single step has been 
taken in the visible execution of the design. Are you 
afflicted with grinding poverty, then see yourself in 
comfortable circumstances (we will not advise immoder- 
ately rich) ; are you physically crippled, then see your- 
self straight as a dart, hold the image of perfection in 
the direction in which you particularly seek it persist- 
ently before you, and if you will persevere in this 
mental exercise, most especially if you will insist upon 
seeing this image and none other before you at night 
before you fall asleep, you will soon relate yourself to 
a sphere of thought which will so invigorate your 
mind as to render actual in your body the condition 
you desire. 

Ques. No. 4. Metaphysicians tell us to deny all 
limitations and affirm their opposite. Will you please 
tell us how we are in truth in doing this f 

Ans. Regardless of what any persons may say, let 
every one speak and affirm what he individually feels 
to be the truth. No metaphysician should be regarded 
as infallible, nor his word placed in the stead of the 
voice of one's own conscience ; therefore, never affirm 
anything which you may deem untrue. Nevertheless 
as we grow in the knowledge of spiritual things we 
attain to a realizing sense of what we are in truth, in 
absolute reality, and then we find out that we are per- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 239 

feet and immortal Spirit. The whole secret of success 
in treating is to get oneself and patients out of material 
thought, i. <?., thought about material things. When 
we realize our higher selves we do not think about our 
lower, and it is only in that exalted frame of mind that 
we can become oblivious to pains, vexations and limits 
and feel ourselves free as birds in the open air. We 
affirm literally nothing and we deny literally nothing 
concerning our physical organisms when we are " in 
the spirit." You have probably all known what it is to 
experience at least occasional and transient absorption 
of thought in other things than those about you. The 
mind needs to rest and recuperate its forces by con- 
sciously bathing, as it were, in a spiritual ocean, from 
which celestial bath it returns re-invigorated to per- 
form the varied and often irksome duties of the out- 
ward state ; for this reason profound slumber, undis- 
turbed sleep, is so necessary that insomnia leads to 
mental aberration. When you enjoy unbroken rest all 
night, you awake in the morning mysteriously strength- 
ened and refreshed and often quite buoyantly happy. 
This mental elasticity is due to your having enjoyed a 
temporary sojourn in the spiritual realm unvexed by 
mortal cares. When giving or taking a treatment you 
need just this perfect release from material sensation. 
We can only explain it by saying that you must en- 
deavor to travel in thought to the infinitely happy, free 
and rich ; you must journey in mind to the absolutely 
perfect, and there bask in the light of the highest ideal 
which the mind can contemplate. Strive to feel that the 
immortal ego, the deathless /is perfect and possesses all 
things, and rest assured that only in this manner can you 



240 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

so relate yourself with the infinite as to overcome the lim- 
itations of the finite. Your ailments have departed, your 
sorrows have fled, your pains have vanished and yet you 
did not see or feel them go, but they went by reason 
of your mental posture ; }/ou took a spiritual sunbath, 
and the heat melted the ice and the light drove away 
the vapors. Place before yourself your highest possi- 
ble conception of ideal humanity and you become nega- 
tive to celestial and proof against infernal influence ; 
you invite constructive and repel destructive force. 
You are well, 3^ou are pefect in your immortal being, 
which is the center of your life. Direct your thoughts 
to this true vital center and you will behold truth. 

Ques. No. 5. You say evert/ expression is a mani- 
festation of God', disease is surely then a manifestation 
of God. Are not sack manifestations necessary? If 
not, how can they he avoided ? 

Ans. We do not say that every expression is a 
manifestation of God in a direct sense, but if we do 
believe every natural expression to be divine, Ave can- 
not thereby include diseased or distorted expressions of 
mortal error. Every work on pathology we have ever 
come across declares disease to be abnormal, it is never 
a natural and therefore healthy condition of affairs 
that is designated disease. Perversion produces the 
appearance of disease, and God is surely not the author 
of the act of perversion if He be the creator of the 
force which man either willfully or ignorantly per- 
verts. Students of this subject can glean much under 
this head from the writings of Swedenborg whose 
arguments are very logical and whose deductions are 
very clear as to the cause and nature of so-called evil. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 24:1 

The writings of Henry James, an ardent admirer of 
Swedenborg, can be consulted with great profit by 
those seeking light on this subject,but as the theme is in- 
tensely profound and at first sight intricate, consider- 
able time and attention must be given to it before the 
problem will appear solved. To give a patent illustra- 
tion, you may conceive of all things as essentially, 
intrinsically good. All is good, there is no evil, but 
though all things are in their essence good, every sepa- 
rate thing is good for something and not good (there- 
fore relatively bad) for something else. Abuse is in- 
harmony which does not necessarily imply imperfec- 
tion or error anywhere except in the use to which an 
instrument is put. The ability to err is doubtless a 
necessary part of discipline. We do not belong to that 
school which looks upon all physical expression as a 
mistake, we contend only for the possibility of so learn- 
ing to employ everything aright that evil shall be utterly 
abolished and discord shall utterly cease. When you 
are suffering the best attitue to assume toward your 
suffering is that it is a stepping-stone to a height beyond, 
you thereby rob it of its sting. The uselessness of 
pain adds to its bitterness. Make it serve an end, 
transmute it, regard it as a consequence of some past 
experience remembered or forgotten, and, therefore, a 
factor in education. But whenever obstacles and sor- 
rows present themselves remember we encounter them 
only to gain strength b} 7 rising superior to them. What 
w r e cannot agree to is the theory that we should tamely 
submit to be crushed by them and call our weakness 
the will of God. We can only avoid falling into mis- 
erv in the future b} r learning wisdom from past experi- 
16 



242 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

ence and so conducting ourselves mentally as to draw 
to us only purely healthful and beneficent influences. 

Ques. No. 6. Is the laying on of hands ever advis- 
able? 

Ans. The laying on of hands is advisable when you 
feel it to be so, i. <?., when you feel an influence unmis- 
takably good impelling you to so act. The word hand 
is frequently used in Scripture in a figurative sense, and 
thus it is often straining a point to infer that whenever 
the phrase " laying on of hands" is met with, it signi- 
fies any form of bodily contact. We do not wish to 
appear illiberal, therefore, we are particularly careful 
to state frequently in public places, that we know many 
healers do great good who lay on hands in treating, at 
the same time we are most careful to state that in our 
opinion it is not the act of manipulation, but a spirit- 
ual force going with it that accomplishes the cure. 

If one is confined to any external mode of action, 
one's usefulness becomes painfully confined, for this 
reason we do not advocate manipulation. Then, again, 
bodily contact is often productive of two serious evils — 
in the first place, it renders the patient's mind too active 
on the outward plane, and second, it frequently exposes 
the healer to the danger of contagion. We would, 
however, allow the utmost reasonable latitude in all 
such matters. No one should strive to be a law unto 
another. If you treat in the way you conscientiously 
feel to be best, the divine blessing will accompany your 
effort, whatever it may be. Pure motive is the essen- 
tial need, and wherever the intent is pure, good must 
follow. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 243 

Ques. No. f l. Of what use to an animal is the suf 
fering that it endures? We can understand that our 
suffering raises ns spiritually, and that it is through us 
that animals stffer, but as one creature ought never in 
justice to be sacrificed to another, the suffering that we 
cause them to undergo ought in someway to benefit the . 

Ans. There is indeed much room for speculative 
inquiry with regard to this interesting- and complex 
subject, and it would be no difficult task for us to oc- 
cupy many pages in a labored attempt at its satisfac- 
tory elucidation. Desiring, however, to be as brief and 
practical as possible, we will content ourselves with 
remarking that the whole gist of theosophical teaching 
is to the effect that everything is slowly wending its 
way upward to a higher expression than has yet been 
evolved. If the theory of involution be studied in 
connection with evolution, it will be comparatively 
easy to trace the benefit accruing to all sentient crea- 
tures from the sufferings to which they are involun- 
tarily subjected. Woe is ever pronounced against him 
by whom an offense cometh, not against those who are 
the victims of such offense. Inexorable divine justice 
through the perpetual out-working of the undeviating 
law of Karma or consequence ordains that those who 
perform an act of cruelty alone suffer for such act in 
the long run. Appearances are often so deceitful, and 
it is so hard for us to clearly distinguish between real 
and apparent loss, that we often fail in seeming evil 
to trace the good, but all unmerited suffering, i. e., all 
suffering not brought upon ourselves b} T folly of our 
own, redounds inevitably to our highest interest by ac 
celerating the processes of our development, and let us 
remember that the law of Karma works in the animal 



2J4 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

as well as in the human kingdom. Animals as well as 
men, are all traveling on to a higher bourne than they 
have yet attained, and as this is a fact known to those 
familiar with the ancient wisdom now being presented 
to the world at large, the problem is solved, immedi- 
ately we see the law of compensation operating on be- 
half of animals as well as men. Dr. Anna Kingsford, 
that noble woman and true Theosophist who did so 
much to enlighten the world on the true basis of moral 
conduct, argued with overwhelming force against the 
eating of flesh and particularly against vivisection on 
the score of these practices being subversive of the high- 
est interests of human welfare, as they are in flagrant 
opposition to our deepest moral instincts, but though we 
who err must incur a penalty in our own deterioration 
until we have expunged our fault with bitter suffering, 
the innocent victims of our inordinate selfishness only 
lose their mortal envelopes and doubtless in every case 
receive an impulsion forward through the sad experi- 
ence which has removed their outward forms. No 
philosophy which does not carry the thought of infinite 
retributive justice in every department of the universe 
can be ultimately satisfactory to mankind, and for this 
reason, if for no other, we should defend the doctrine 
of a future existence for animals and allot their suf- 
ferings a place in the order of their progression. 

Ques. No. 8. Are not consequences of human ex- 
perience often totally disproportionate to the error which, 
iudtices them f as for instance, a man mistakes a toad- 
stool for a mushroom and dies in consequence. 

Ans. No act can possibly be solitary and unre- 
lated to other and previous acts, therefore the gather- 



SPIEITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 24:5 

ing or eating* of a toadstool in mistake for a mushroom 
and being poisoned in consequence is an experience which 
can only be correctly understood by one who has traced 
out the relations of cause and effect to an extent far be- 
yond the attainments of the majority. Say that the act 
standing alone is a very trival mistake, a simple error of 
judgment in no sense criminal, a philosophical inquiry of 
momentous import at once presents itself, viz., what 
has induced a state of mind rendering such an error 
possible? Is not the ostensible act only the first visible 
expression of perhaps a very long and important chain 
of unknown antecedent causes? If the spiritual per- 
ceptive faculty was in any way keen such a mistake could 
not occur, and why is not the intuition keen enough to 
avert such a catastrophe, is a very pertinent query in 
this connection. We continually attribute the gravest 
consequences to the most trivial acts solely because we 
do not see behind them into the mysterious past 
whence they sprang. We see a flash of lightning and 
hear a clap of thunder, these are the first intimations 
we often have of a terrific storm which has been, all 
unknown to us, for a long time slowly brewing. We 
are out in the storm without even a wrap or an um- 
brella, totally unprotected, surprised and at the mercy 
of the raging elements, or we are in a railway carriage 
or on a steamboat and an accident overtakes us so sud- 
denly that we are instantly maimed bej^ond probable 
recovery. These things we say are casualties which 
cannot be prevented, and yet in every instance had we 
only developed our psychic perception to an extent we 
have not as yet done, we should have been forewarned, 
forearmed, protected, or in some manner saved entirely 



21-6 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



from the affliction which has befallen us. Belief in 
special providence and absolute miracles has arisen 
entirely from a failure to account for exceptional 
occurences in the light of relative psychic culture. 

Ques. ]N r o. 9. Do toe understand you to maintain 
that accidents as well as diseases are all preventible 
and therefore quite unnecessary f 

Ans. Accidents are invariably the result of folly 
or ignorance when they are not the fruits of lawless- 
ness or crime. An accident must have a cause, 
it must be the effect of someting, it does not origin- 
ate through the arbitrary caprice of God, neither 
is it a freak of fortune. What occasions for the 
most part those events commonly termed acci- 
dents ? Drunkenness, frenzy, fear and a host of other 
vices and follies coupled with recklessness and a lack 
of skill on the part of somebody, will account probably 
for 90 per cent., while the remaining 10 per cent., even 
though seemingly beyond human control, are simply 
beyond that limit of control which ordinary men and 
women have yet gained over their surroundings. Kow 
we wish particularly to call our readers' most careful 
attention to the following important proposition, which 
is that all mishaps are avertible, provided we are suf- 
ficiently developed spiritually to heed those numerous 
and instructive warnings which invariably precede dis- 
aster. Just as the weather prophet can, by scanning 
the face of the sky, which others can not read, foretell 
the impending tempest, just as the shrill whistle or 
clanging bell signals the arrival or departure of a train 
though a deaf person hears no sound at all, so unseen, 
and to the ear of flesh inaudible influences are perpet- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 247 

ually warning us to get out of danger's way, but alas, 
the jprenez garde of our unseen friends is heard by com- 
paratively few of earth's children. The great prac- 
tical advantages attending and resulting from psychic 
culture are that with our interior vision more fully 
opened we shall be able to see things in their true pro- 
portions, and thus avoid making mistakes and falling 
into pits of needless sorrow. The following clipping 
from the Golden Gate serves to illustrate in some meas- 
ure what we are seeking to convey. The editor of 
that valuable weekly says : " One of the first fruits of 
the ' gift of the spirit ' is that of being able to sense 
the spiritual status of those with whom one comes in 
contact. He reads his fellow-beings, whenever he 
chooses to do so, as from an open book. He can not 
tell you how or why, but he knows, and that knowledge 
is almost infallible. In the higher unfoldment of this 
wonderful faculty one may ever know in whom to put 
his trust. Armed with this power how many of ' the 
rocks and shoals of time ' may be avoided." If this be 
true, as it unquestionably is in the main, in all particu- 
lars, can not we easily extend our view of this entranc- 
ing subject until it embraces a realization that we can 
so foresee coming events as to avoid painful experiences? 
The literature of clairvoyance abounds in striking 
illustrations of this power, but until recently the prev 
alent opinion has been that clairvoyance in its widest 
sense is a special gift, a dower bestowed by heaven on 
a few, but utterly unobtainable by the many. The pres- 
ent trend of advanced spiritual thought is toward the 
demonstrable conclusion that every one can in some 
measure develop his own inner nature so far as to be 



24:8 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

able to anticipate danger and thus avoid it. There is 
nothing arbitrary in the scheme of the universe. Im- 
mutable law shows no favoritism. He who has ears to 
hear and eyes to see can walk securely, and those who, 
mentally and spiritually speaking, are as yet well nigli 
destitute of these fundamental organs of perception 
can by diligent prosecution of befitting methods de- 
velop these much-to-be desired avenues of information. 

Ques. No. 10. Is it possible for a healer to remove 
a patient's desire for liquor or love of tobacco without 
the person knowing it f 

Ans. It is not possible for the patient to get rid of 
any habit unless he makes an effort. But how is the 
patient to be induced to make the effort ? As effort is 
necessary on the patient's part, you must treat him 
with a view to his making the effort. You must break 
down all indisposition. When persons will not work, 
idleness is their disease ; you therefore have to treat for 
idleness. Many treaters fail because they hold their 
patients in error. They seem to settle down under the 
conviction that their patient is not willing to be con- 
vinced. If you hold any thought of idleness over any 
idler it makesTiim still more idle; your belief that he will 
remain in error strengthens the bond of sin around him. 
What we have to do in such cases is to treat ourselves 
for our beliefs concerning our patients. That seems to 
be the hardest work of all, for many practitioners. They 
can only with great difficulty obe}^ the wise injunction, 
" Physician, heal thyself." Ladies have often come 
to us and said their mothers or other relatives never 
would accept spiritual truth,* there was a statement 
most unspiritual and groundless. Married women have. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 249 

often said : " My husband never will accept the truth." 
What influence do you suppose people exert over their 
companions by entertaining such views of them ? If 
they are giving them treatments they are certainly 
malpracticing. A daughter takes to her mother the 
idea that she never will look favorably at certain things, 
and while the daughter is crying over this, her own be- 
lief, the mother is kept in a state of antagonism by the 
unconscious mental influence of the daughter. A wo- 
man going around telling of her husband's untruthful- 
ness, keeps him untruthful, though of course she is not 
aware that her conduct keeps him from improvement. 
If a person is given to drinking or smoking and you tell 
everybody so, though you are not aware of so doing, 
you are keeping the one you wish to see reformed 
under bondage and preventing his reformation. Heal- 
ers must pluck the beams out of their own eyes ere 
they can see clearly to cast the motes out of their 
brother's eyes. It is limitation in ourselves that we 
have to fight against. You can not successfully treat 
any person whom you hold in false belief. You must 
hold no less favorable thought than that your treat- 
ment is inducing the patient to make all necessary ef- 
fort, and treatment does not take genuine and perma- 
nent effect unless patients make efforts themselves to 
hold their lower appetites in rightful subjection, only 
if you always hold good thoughts do you treat in the 
right way. It is certainly easier to lay blame upon 
others than upon ourselves, but Jesus had no patience 
with such self-flattery. Some of his disciples com- 
plained to him that a certain person could not be cured, 
and he said to them in reply : v * O ye of little faith ,' 



250 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can 
say to mountains, be removed and cast into the sea, 
and it shall be done, and nothing shall be impossible 
with you." If we only break ourselves of this detest- 
able habit of holding our brethren in error, if we per- 
sistently hold mental pictures of harmony before our 
eyes we shall soon be universal public benefactors. But 
so long as we acknowledge and dwell upon error in 
others, we impose limitations upon them and prevent 
them from making the effort they otherwise might in 
the right direction; we disqualify ourselves from help- 
ing them to make the necessary effort. If our mind 
reaches them it holds them in error, and as we encour- 
age erroneous thought concerning others, it holds us in 
error. We must not think toward any one. I wish 
you would make an effort, but I feel sure you will not. 
Encourage only the thought that sees them perfect. 
We must see mentally whatever we desire as accomp- 
lished already. Just as the artist sees his picture in 
mind before it is put on canvas. It is complete, men- 
tally, before he takes up pencil or brush. So in the 
mind of an architect, the perfect building is seen. It 
is all completed before the draughtsman touches pen- 
cil, or the first stone of the material fabric is laid. So 
before the first really practical and effective step has 
been taken toward the improvement of your patient, 
you must see him in thought perfectly well. By hold- 
ing this mental image you do the thing necessary to 
make him appear well. First, see him perfectly well in 
mind, then set to work to build the external in har- 
mony with the mental design. 

Ques. No. 11. What effect has treatment upon the 
lauj of Karma f 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 251 

Ans. Whenever treatment takes effect, it causes 
the patient to make good Karma. If the patient had 
never made any bad Karma in the past, he would not 
be feeling ill now. Karma manufactured in the past 
has borne fruit in the present. "We are what we are in 
consequence of w T hat we have been. Successful treat- 
ment is to so act upon a patient as to cause him to 
make good Karma, and that destroys bad Karma. 
The past being irrevocable, you find different patients 
in very different conditions of receptivity when you 
first treat them. As you succeed in bringing them out 
of bad conditions you succeed in helping them to make 
good Karma, which is only the Buddhistic name for 
what the Christian calls a good life. You can produce 
the result of good Karma by inducing the patient to 
follow truth instead of error. 

[Note. — Karma, only means consequence, and is a Sanscrit 
term employed chiefly by those designating themselves Theosophists, 
who study Oriental works of mystical import.] 

Ques. ~No. 12. Is it always possible in the present 
stage of development to overthrow crime f 

Ans. If you feel after earnest effort to overcome 
it that it is not possible in the case of a certain patient 
you may conclude that it is no part of your particular 
work to treat that particular patient. We have often 
to make a selection, for Ave cannot treat everybody. 
If you feel you cannot hold a certain individual in the 
highest and purest thought, then leave the case alone. 
Acknowledge that it may be no part of your special 
work. We have had many experiences where we have 
felt : Well, whether a desired result can be attained or 
not, we shall not attempt to decide, but it is clearly no 



252 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

part of our special work to bring it about. Therefore 
we don't take in hand such a case at all, but are perfect- 
ly willing any one should, who feels it is part of his 
mission to do so. We do not know to what extent every 
one can be influenced, but one thing we do know, and 
that is that we can never influence patients for good 
until we can hold them in the thought of good. When 
we have reached a plane of perfect good we can per- 
haps hold all others on that high level. There seems 
to be no definite Karmic limitation mentioned in the 
New Testament. Jesus was astonished at lack of faith, 
he wept over Jerusalem and cried," O Jerusalem, Jerus- 
alem, how often would I have gathered thy children 
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under 
her wings, and ye w 7 ouldnot!"' We do not believe 
any one is obliged to make bad Karma. We do not 
believe any one is obliged to reject truth, but all have 
liberty to do so. If we deliberately reject truth when 
presented to us we voluntarily create evil Karma. If 
it appears that Karma sometimes operates so as to pre- 
vent certain persons from seeing truth, you as healer 
may be perhaps allowed to feel : " Well, I have done 
my duty, I must leave results to God." Sometimes 
you may have to shake dust off your feet. Jesus said, 
' Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every 
creature.'' The preacher must be swaj^ed by no doubt 
as to whether some people can receive his message 
whilst others can not. If we entertain a belief that 
some people cannot be healed, we impose limitations 
upon ourselves w r e should be much better without. If 
we do our duty faithfully we shall always be blessed. 
If you undertake some cases and fail, (as you say,) you 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 253 

do not fail utterly because you Lave certainly been of 
some use to the person you treated and to humanity at 
large. You have sown good seed. Whenever a person 
speaks a good word, though it may not make any 
appreciable impression upon the person for whom it 
was intended it effects somebody for good, we know 
several cases in point, one of which we will quote: Two 
ladies were walking on the street, one of them pleading 
earnestly with the other. A woman whom neither of 
them saw or knew anything about was walking 
behi nd them, and her whole future was changed by 
what she overheard. We never know the extent of 
our audience. We cannot tell when treating how many 
minds we are reaching. Do not narrow down your 
treatment to a single patient,but remember always that 
our work is bound to be of service to humanity at large 
in ways too subtle for objective analysis many times. 
Only by doing good toothers can we make good Karma 
for ourselves. 

Ques. No. 13. What would be your explanation 
of poison coining from minerals or vegetables f 

Axs. Because of their being improperly used A 
taxidermist finds arsenic very useful in stuffing birds. 
He has no disagreeable thought with regard to arsenic. 
He knows it is not intended for food. He knows if he 
puts it where it does not belong it will become rela- 
tively evil. Every so-called evil thing must be put in 
its own place and allowed to do its appointed work, 
then will it prove itself good in its manner. The 
thought of poison in plants and minerals proceeds from 
a derangement in ideas. Everything has its place. 
Certain things fit into certain grooves. When error 



254 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

results discord must have been created. Looking at 
poisons from another point of view Mrs. Grimke says: 
" If there were no calumny in mortal mind there w T ould 
be no arsenic in visible effect." Many say there would 
be no poisonous plants if erroneous states of mortal 
mind had never caused them. Some people kill valu- 
able plants by destructive thoughts, others again sus- 
tain noxious weeds. We know a lady who can make 
nothing but weeds grow in her garden. Another 
lady's garden has no weeds. It simply comes to this: 
The emanations from the one lady nourish weeds, 
while the emanations from the other nourish flowers. 
Of course there is truth in the theory of magnetism, 
but magnetism is primarily spiritual or mental power. 
If any one benefits another by magnetism, it is really 
by mental action or thought transference. Magnet- 
ism far too often associated with material beliefs which 
convey ideas not in harmony with spiritual science. 
It seems to us that, taking the world as it is, we 
can justly entertain three ideas concerning poisons . 
In the first place, everything is good provided it is 
rightfully related, and not otherwise. Therefore you 
do not think of eating everything. And if you do not 
eat everything you use, why should you eat certain 
vegetables, or take certain minerals into your system ? 
Then another view is, that everything is produced in 
obedience to a state of mind we sometimes recognize, 
but often fail to recognize, and so long as certain 
states of mind continue so long will their expressions 
continue. If we cultivate higher thoughts we shall 
starve out poisonous plants and animals. If such 
gigantic creatures as the mammoth and mastodon no 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 255 

longer exist, why should not poisonous insects, reptiles 
and. plants die out ? They certainly will ultimately 
disappear under the law of the survival of the fittest. 
The third view is that all these things need not affect or 
move us. We are so far superior to all minerals, veget- 
ables and animals that if we only realize our true 
relation to God, and also understand our right relation 
to the inferior or external world, we shall be always 
safe. In treating one who has been poisoned you 
must make your patient fully realize his relation to 
God, he must also realize his relation to the external uni- 
verse. Your relation to your friends in truth is that 
of co-operative harmony. Your relation to angelic 
influences is that of true spiritual communion. But 
your right relation to every form of error is the rela- 
tion of controlling power to the thing controlled. 
Many people talk about mind and matter so as only to 
confound language. They say matter is negative and 
spirit positive, but after they have declared this they 
make spirit negative, and matter positive. They say 
natter can influence mind and make persons ill. They 
affirm that influences below man can overcome man. 
But there can be no real health apart from spiritual 
understanding, the understanding and realization that 
we are children of God. When we truly realize our 
sonship to the Eternal we can completely subdue all 
below us; we are then in a condition not to dread 
reptiles and other creatures equally below us. In that 
state, if a viper lighted upon your arm it could not 
harm you any more than it hurt Paul. Our most 
effective work consists in exorcising demons from our 
own breasts. If we practised stricter self-discipline or 



256 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

self-control we should soon render ourselves invulner- 
able and no longer care for lower things. We should 
then no longer dread the viper or the upas tree. We 
might remove them for the sake of others, but we 
should ourselves be in no danger from them. When 
we get on the high ground of spiritual victory we have 
outgrown the infantile condition of the mind which, 
being negative even though innocent, renders its pos- 
sessor susceptible to danger. 

Ques. No. 14. Do yon think one mind can rise 
superior to the universal mind in relation to poison? 

Ans. There is no universal mind except the mind 
of deity and God's mind is alone infinite; when we trust 
God fully we become one with God. One finite mind 
alone can not resist all danger. When you realize your 
relation to God you feel the force of the words, " I and 
my Father are one." The infinite can surely overcome 
the finite, but the finite can not vanquish the infinite. 
You say when in the bondage of sense and therefore 
fear the strength of evil, " T am but one mind contend- 
in <r against a host of minds. " But is it not easier for 
you to contend against all there is of finite mind than 
against the infinite mind of God? God is on the side 
of health and good, disease is opposed to Him, fear of 
poison is rebellion against the mind of God, or at least 
it is utter distrust of God's sovereignty. Trust in 
God is necessary to our deliverance from fear. If we 
don't trust we remain in fear, because we think of the 
multitude of evil influences about us. But how many 
good angels are there ? Are there not more angels 
than devils in the universe? Then why should anyone 
be overcome by evil? Which is the stronger — evil or 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 257 

good ? Health or disease ? Poison or spiritual influx ? 
If we only turn our thoughts to angels instead of devils; 
if we only think of the power of God instead of the 
power of evil, we gain the victory. A young man in 
ancient story was affrighted when he saw the enemy, 
but when he saw the host of God he feared the enemy 
no longer. David never was so strong physically as 
Goliath, but when Goliath attempted to fight David he 
was conquered. If David had trusted in any other 
power than the divine he could not have conquered 
Goliath. If you have intelligently read Bulwer Lyt- 
ton's story, " The Coining Race," you will know that 
the vril he speaks of as being carried in little frail sticks 
by those mysterious people who live under the earth, 
and who he says are to become the future inhabitants 
of the upper world according to that romance is noth- 
ing other than will power. A boy of twelve encoun- 
ters a tremendous monster, but on directing his little 
vril stick towards him, the creature is consumed to a 
cinder. Yril possesses a power like lightning. The 
one who carries it feels that he has indeed a magic staff 
in his hand. We all have a similar feeling when we 
realize that in spirit we possess that which can destroy 
every form of error. Instead of fearing poison we 
know that we can give error a dose of truth that will 
destroy it instantly. We are never safe till we trust 
entirely in the divine light we derive from the infinite, 
the electric fire of the Holy Spirit. 

Ques. No. 15. To what occult force does vril cor- 
respond '( 

Ans. It signifies the human will as superior to the 
animal will. It is generated by the enlightened mind of 
17 



258 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

man when man's sixth principle is developed. If man 
exercises his sixth principle nothing can injuriously af- 
fect nim. The human soul (fifth principle) versus the 
animal soul (fourth principle) always conquers, but vril 
is discovered only though the sixth principle (spiritual 
soul), for until reason and intellect are illumined from 
above (within) we cannot truly discipline and employ 
our fifth or intellectual principle in subduing the fourth 
and its correspondents, which take in the entire range 
of the animal and yet lower kingdoms; we must unfold 
the higher to guide the next below. 

Ques. No 16. What is prophecy f Wherein consists 
the chief differ en ce betiveen priest and prophet \ Why did 
Paul place prophecy above all other spiritual gifts f 
Can we all attain to a development of it f Has Astrol- 
ogy any connection with genuine prophetic insight? 

Ans. The chief difference between prophets and 
priests consists in the fact that the former are seers, while 
the latter . are but echoes, so far as their teaching is con- 
cerned. This statement is not intended as in any man- 
ner disrespectful to the priests of any religion, many of 
whom are noble philanthropists; it simply embodies 
the self-evident conclusion that those who look to an- 
cient canons of authority for all their wisdom, must 
necessarily refuse to allow that the still small voice 
speaking within the soul of each individual is that in- 
dividual's rightful and only absolute guide. 

A prophet is a revelator and an exhorter. Predic- 
tion, in the ordinary sense, is not always true prophetic 
insight; a prophet is not a fortune-teller, but one who 
sees so deeply into the realm of causation and the soul 
of things as to be able to state the inevitable outcome 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 259 

of a certain course of procedure. Prophets know more 
of cause and effect than other people, and may be com- 
pared to men standing on lofty heights, commanding 
an extended view of the surrounding country. Dwell- 
ers in the valleys can only see a little way before them, 
and thus, through ignorance of where different roads 
lead, make many false steps, and go in the oppo- 
site direction to that in which they need to tread. A 
man on a mountain can call down to them from his ex- 
alted station, and his voice may be that of a true guide 
and savior, because he is in a position to see whither 
roads tend, the destination of which can be viewed 
only from a lofty elevation. 

True seership is the most practically useful of all pos- 
sible endowments, and therefore Paul eulogized it beyond 
all other gifts. How can we cultivate it, is the impor- 
tant question to answer. It is necessary to retire into 
silence, to give no heed for awhile to external voices, 
to cease interrogating our neighbors, to desist from con- 
sulting the world's oracles, then if we remain mentally 
still for a short time, fixing our thoughts and desires 
intently upon the object of our search, we shall learn 
that we have inward eyes and ears, and that spiritual 
voices and divine intuitions can lead us safely over in- 
numerable difficulties, under which we should, in our 
ordinary condition, sink. 

Prophecy is insight, hindsight and foresight, and is 
in truth nothing other than a penetrative perception of 
the law of necessity. A prophet is not a fatalist, he 
does not affirm that there is a private destiny marked 
out for each human individual. He deals with the race 
destiny of man, and with the inevitable sequence of 



260 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

events, which does not at all imply that men and 
women have no power to shape their own ends. 

Ignorance means bondage, while knowledge is indis- 
pensable to freedom. By increasing knowledge the 
prophet increases the responsibility of man, as it is 
his sacred mission to so instruct the world that ignor- 
ance, which aforetime was only weakness, at length 
becomes criminal. 

All true teachers are prophets. It should never be 
our ambition to pry into the future so as to forestall 
either joy or sorrow, and live as though we were the 
creatures of luck and not of effort, but to so learn the 
relations of cause and effect, as they concern our daily 
life, that we may be able to prevent accidents and avert 
catastrophes. To foretell impending doom in a blank 
sense is not edifying, it is depressing and enervating. 
The old adage is true, ''forewarned is forearmed." If 
we know that certain events are likely to transpire, 
true seership will enable us to prepare to meet them. 
By means of it we can conquer obstacles to which, in 
our blindness, we should yield. 

With reference to astrology the words of an enlight- 
ened astrologer may be quoted with profit : "The wise 
man rules his stars, the fool obeys them." By this it is 
meant that just as meteorology enables coastmen and 
farmers to protect their belongings and secure general 
public safet}^ against the coming of storms, whose 
approach can not be warded off, so those who are 
warned by intuition or clairvoyance may be in a con- 
dition to guard against wrecks or disasters, which need 
not follow if proper precautions are taken, but which 
must inevitably supervene unless some skillful mind is 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 261 

ready against an emergency. True prophecy calls at- 
tention to the leak in the vessel or the hole in the roof. 
It detects it and proclaims the direful results which 
must inevitably ensue if it be not attended to in time. 

A true prophet would deliver his message to captain, 
engineer, or other officer in charge of boat or train, 
and, by foreseeing danger, stave it off, and thus win 
the lasting thanks and honors of a saved multitude ; or 
if his message were unheeded, the doom which befell 
those who refused to hear, would be a calamity for 
which they had only their own obstinate obduracy to 
blame. 

Quks. N^o. 17. An eminent occult student in a 

private letter ', says: Everything in nature is real to those 

things involved therein, hence pain is as real as we are. 

Will you please explain the discrepancy between this and 

your teaching (if there is any) f 

Ans. Innumerable controversies have arisen in 
consequence of persons using one word in several oppo- 
site senses. The word real is certainly susceptible of 
more than one definition. When in the highest meta- 
physical sense, Spirit is spoken of as the only reality, 
while matter is declared to be unreal, the thought in- 
tended to be conveyed is that Spirit alone is eternal. 
Now pain may appear as real as pleasure on the exter- 
nal or sense plane of existence, but we must never for- 
get . that our sensations are transitory, and so far as 
they appear to arise from external things, they can not 
be everlasting. Pain as a sensation may be regarded 
as an educator, we do not necessarily disagree with 
those who call it the voice of an alarmist bidding us see 
to what is wrong, that having our attention called 



262 SPIRITUAL THEEAPEUTICS. 

thereto, we may rectify an error. As to saying pain is 
as real as we are, we consider it a most unscientific 
statement, unless by " we " is meant simply the lower 
or earthly nature which the higher and abiding "we" 
hope some day to outgrow. If we are replying to a 
student of theosophical literature we should ask him 
to consider pain as an emotion of the inferior princi- 
ples in the constitution of man. The higher principle 
does not and can not suff er,as it never errs or sins, and pain 
is a penalty, educational, redemptive, necessary we admit, 
when we have fallen into error, but the higher princi- 
ple does not fall into error, and consequently neither 
needs nor endures such reformatory chastening. A 
brief consideration of the three distinct principles which 
enter into the constitution of man, and of which we 
are all more or less deeply conscious, may throw some 
light on this seemingly perplexing problem. We, as 
intellectual beings, are living between the spiritual and 
the animal in us, and suffering is occasioned by the 
struggle or conflict continually going forward in us as 
well as around us. Paul graphically describes this 
in the seventh chapter of his epistle to the Eomans, 
which may be very profitably studied in this connec- 
tion. "We shall undoubtedly all suffer pain until we 
no longer require such discipline; pain therefore, in 
its place is good, it serves an end, and when its use is 
made plain it is no longer the hopeless enigma it was 
previously. We must outgrow a condition which neces- 
sitates suffering, and true spiritual treatment assists us 
to do so. A right treatment helps a patient to grow ? 
mentally and morally. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 263 

Ques. 18. Do you agree with the following from the 
same 'writer f God is not only love and intelligence out 
lie is everything that exists on earth and anywhere else. 
Cause and effect are one and the same thing— they can 
not he separated. Man and God are t/te same, hence this 
physical nature is as holy and sacred as the angelic. 

The points raised in the foregoing statement, which 
is not a question but an assertion, are far too profound 
and numerous to be entered into here at any length. 
We regard the statement as decidedly pantheistic, and 
as we are not pantheists we fail to endorse it in toto, at 
the same time the ultimate of such assertion is agreeable 
to the genius of an enlightened philosophy, and cannot 
be said to differ from the New Testament doctrine that 
the human body is God's temple. In essence every- 
thing must be divine, there can be no other life than 
the one infinite life which is the life of God. Such a view 
is calculated to elevate rather than depress our view of 
existence, and is therefore largely beneficial. We must 
get to the root of all things to find their real divinity. 
We must touch the bed rock in the nature of our pa- 
tients before we can treat them successfully, and were 
we called upon to treat a person holding the opinions 
under review, we should scarcely seek to supplant 
them. All is good; there is no evil, is ultimately true 
in every instance. 

Ques. No. 19. Why is it that men often grow more 
mercenary as they advance in life f Generous hoys often 
make stingy men. 

Why are we so sordid, and why do ice grow more so ? 

If we are all spirit, why such earthly natures f 



2(^4: SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS, 

Ans, We must never forget that so long as we are 
subject to mortal influence at all, we shall remain to 
some degree the creatures of our surroundings. While 
the supreme truth concerning man as an immortal spir- 
itual entity is that he is pure spirit, we should not allow 
our eyes to elose against the fact that we have a mortal 
mind to educate and develop, until it becomes the fitting 
channel for the expression of the inmost or highest 
principle of our nature. The lower principle or ani- 
mal soul in us is not essentially or intrinsically evil. 
It is, indeed, very good when rightfully subjected 
to the higher principle, and our earthly discipline 
can only be said to be complete when this lower 
nature is completely subservient to the higher. Now. 
this lower principle is the nature we share in com- 
mon with the animals, all o( whom, without ex- 
ception, manifest a lower type of affection than that 
which bespeaks the spiritual man. Self interest, self- 
preservation, love o( approbation and particular re- 
gard for those who bestow favors on them are marked 
characteristics of many, if not all the lower creatures 
who serve us and with "whom we associate. Now, in 
man these animal traits are always conspicuous until 
the loftier spiritual manhood pertaining to the higher 
principle, which animals do not share with man. is made 
manifest. What then is the sordidness o( which so 
many complain? Surely it is nothing more or other 
than an intense, indeed, an overweening regard for 
one's personal comfort and social standing and that of 
one's family, without thought or regard for the equal ad- 
vantages due to others. " Thou shah love thy neighbor 
as thyself,' 3 introducing as it does, the singular number 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 265 

in both cases, suggests to every attentive mind that the 
command, when fully interpreted, tells us that it is our 
dutv to recognize all men and women as our brothers 
and sisters, even to the extent of acting out the sublime 
principle of fraternity, so far as to think no more of 
our individual prosperity, than that of any other human 
unit in the great mass we call society. This is where 
spiritual science, or true theosophy, antagonizes human 
selfishness and calls forth the bitterest and most scorn- 
ful denunciation from selfish and self-sufficient egotists, 
who will not tolerate the assertion that the rights of 
our common humanity must never beset aside to favor 
the caprice of an ambitious individual. If we can but 
grasp, in some measure, the glorious idea of God's uni- 
versal parenthood, we have a base on which to build 
securely a sound philosophy of human brotherhood and 
sisterhood. But until this conviction becomes deep 
enough in every heart to make it the moving principle, 
the mainspring of all conduct — until man becomes 
angelic enougli to live in the love of heaven, caring 
more for his brethren than for himself — not, indeed, 
neglecting his own culture or disregarding his own 
needs, but placing himself in such relation to all his 
neighbors as to consider any two human, entities of 
twice the value of one, even though himself be the 
unit under consideration — until then, the love of hell, 
which is nothing other than inordinate self-love, greater 
regard for self than for neighbor will continue to plunge 
men and nations into all the awful depths of crime 
and convulsive throes of anarchy, which at the present 
moment so sadly terrify and depress many gentle and 
most amiable persons. Now, the only possible remedy 



266 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. ' 

for these gigantic evils, all springing from human self- 
ishness, is a purely spiritual, but at the same time in- 
tensely practical system of moral education. Moral 
education need not lead to asceticism, and it certainly 
does not tend to fanaticism in any direction. It is purely 
and simply the culture of the higher dispositions of our 
nature, and by a constant direction of all our energy 
toward spiritual growth, instead of toward the accumu- 
lation of earthly property, it diverts the mind from 
selfish dreams of personal aggrandizement and fixes the 
eye of ambition on the shining mark of spiritual ad- 
vancement. False standards of wealth and honor easily 
corrupt the morals of youth. Fine houses, extensive 
lands, elegant equipages, handsome clothes, expensive 
jewels, these and many like vanities are regarded as the 
highest good by multitudes, and why? Surely be- 
cause, as a rule, we all show respect to those in affluent 
circumstances, while we show disrespect to those of 
far greater moral and mental worth who have not 
these baubles to display. Riches exert a powerful 
psychological hold on the minds of men and women, 
because of their immense purchasing power — and what 
can they not purchase in society as at present organ- 
ized ? If they could only buy collateral advantages of 
an external kind, many who now dote on them would 
at once despise them. But alas, they purchase in so 
many instances the respect, esteem and homage which 
by rights belong only to superior character. When 
our standard of value is reversed and we esteem peo- 
ple for what they are, not for what they have, this 
sordidness must disappear like murky vapors before the 
day dawn. Many men who seem intensely sordid in 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 267 

business circles are most kind and lovable at home, and 
try to live up to the Golden Eule; the world's tempta- 
tions in the commercial sphere are however so strong 
that they succumb. Let it be our work to reform pub- 
lic sentiment so as to deliver such from evil. 

Ques. ~No 20. What influence is it that prompts 
noble men and women to so far interest themselves, even 
to martyrdom and violent deaths^ in the momentous 
questions of the day — to the advocacy of Anarchism in 
America and Nihilism in Russia. Is not their devotion 
to these causes of disruption a misinterpreted inspira- 
tion f 

Ans. We regard the persons referred to as 
blundering reformers, many of them without doubt 
are endeavoring, as best they know how, to correct 
prevalent abuses, but so under the dominion of the 
lower principle are they, that they fail altogether to 
detect the only true means, whereby reform can be 
brought about. Co-operation, not competition, is the 
natural order. Children are falsely instructed when 
led to gratify an emulous ambition to rise above others. 
Poverty is quite unnecessary in America, but it will 
never be fully abolished as long as the wage system con- 
tinues. This old system, a relic of feudal institutions, 
can not, however, be swept away by violent aggressions 
on the part of laborers upon the persons and possessions 
of capitalists. Reform can only be attained through 
processes of social and industrial evolution. Anarchism 
and Nihilism are the children of despotism. They are the 
offspring of systems of injustice and inhumanity Avhich 
give birth to desperadoes, who destroy their own parents. 
Evil invariably destroys itself. In these times of ex- 



268 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

cessively rapid motion the work of destruction is 
accomplished by violent measures and at a high rate of 
speed. The chemicalization of error must needs con- 
tinue until every vestige of selfishness and animality is 
purged from human thought and affection, and while 
we may bemoan the measures taken to rectify wrong, 
and leave no stone unturned to show our erring breth- 
ren the better way, the only proper attitude to be taken 
in these days of angry revolt is that error in destroy- 
ing itself is manifesting its true inwardness. We m&y 
learn from present disasters how absolutely necessary 
for the maintenance of social order and domestic peace 
are the spiritual truths, which are now engaging the at- 
tention of profound thinkers throughout the world. 
One evil may destroy another, as one poison may be 
an antidote to another, but it takes an enunciation and 
demonstration of the principle of true science to up- 
build a republic of the nations, in which every citizen 
will enjoy a comfortable competency as the reward of 
his own industry, which is possible immediately the 
demon of selfishness is cast out of mind. 

Ques. !No. 21. To a person whose happiness of 
the higher sort on earth has been entirely centered in the 
exercise of the affections, does it follow that nothing of 
this is prescribable in our future states except those feel- 
ings which have a direct reference to religious or spirit- 
ual philosophy f Is not love imperishable f 

Ans. All true affection is spiritual, and therefore 
immortal, but surely none will deny that much that is 
called love is nothing but self-love. If we love others 
in a purely earthly manner by reason of the happiness 
they give us, our affection can not pertain to the im- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 269 

mortal state, but if we love one another purely and 
unselfishly we may take the words of Jesus, recorded 
in the fourteenth chapter of the Fourth Gospel, and 
apply them to every human case. Individuality is the 
basis of life. We do not teach or believe that a time 
will ever come when the soul's identity will be lost. 
Neither do we anticipate a day when those who are 
truly related in spirit will be forced asunder. Darby 
and Joan, who after fifty } T ears of wedded bliss are 
dearer to each other than on their wedding day, can 
surely with confidence look forward to a continuation 
of their mutual love beyond the grave, while those 
whose affections are sensual and seliish will assuredly 
drift apart and eventually discover that what they called 
love on earth was only a delusive chimera. Unhappi- 
ness in married life comes from inordinate exaction on 
one side or the other. The true spiritual scientist must 
not demand affection or live to be blessed, but bestow 
affection and work to bless others. Angelic iove is all 
unselfish, the, love of heaven that seeks no return is 
the love that reaps so glorious and plenteous a harvest, 
that indescribable bliss fills those souls to overflowing 
who, thinking not of any reward, find the truth of the 
statement, most perfectly exemplified in their expe- 
rience, that to give is more blessed than to receive. If 
our affections are of the earth we must be wounded 
through them, as, being mortal they must die, and we 
suffer in their death if we cling to them. All true 
affection is eternal. 

Qdes. No. 22. What is faith f Is it necessary 
that the patient have faith in the healer f 



2Y0 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Ans. Faith, from the Latin fides, which gives us 
the English word fidelity, does not by any means sig- 
nify that blind credulity or unreasoning belief, which 
many people so erroneously dignify with the name of 
faith. In the old Hebrew sense of the word, faith in- 
variably meant integrity, and thus the upright man 
was always styled the man of faith. In business cir- 
cles, rather than in religious ones, we find this word 
still emplo} r ed in its uncorrupted meaning; no etymolo- 
gist would so far misemploy it as to identify it with 
gullibility. Faith is a grace, a moral excellence, a virtue 
of the highest ethical importance. Belief is secondary 
to faith and has a value quite distinct from faith, faith 
relating to the purpose of life from a moral standpoint, 
while belief can be only a matter of intellectual con- 
viction at most. To require genuine faith of a patient 
is to demand nothing unreasonable, as it is only to re- 
quire honesty of purpose, sincerity of desire, etc. Now 
as to belief, no reasonable person can expect another to 
believe without sufficient evidence, as he himself can 
not yield assent to any unproven proposition. It is not 
virtuous to believe, neither is it vicious to disbelieve. 
When a stranger makes his appearance and puts out 
his sign in a new city, the inhabitants rightly inquire into 
his credentials before they take him into their families. 
So, when a novel theory comes before the world, wise 
people neither endorse nor condemn it off hand, they 
earnestly and dispassionately investigate it. Patients 
are often tired of experimenting with medicine. They 
have suffered much at the hands of various schools of 
practice, and hearing of what seems to them a new 
and wonderful method of healing, especially when im- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 271 

portunecl by friends to do so, they are quite willing 
and often anxious to give it a trial. Such people can 
not approach a mental or spiritual healer in perfect 
confidence that his system is the only true one, nor 
can they feel absolutely sure of receiving benefit, unless 
some very strong influence or evidence is brought to 
bear upon them to produce such a result. JN~ow a heal- 
er should not crave impossibilities or endeavor to exact 
what is unreasonable from an inquirer. Let the works 
speak for themselves. Let faith follow rather than 
precede demonstration. If anyone expects another to 
believe inhim,he must generate and dispense an influence 
which compels grateful recognition at the hands of the 
sick and sorrowful, and the true healer invariably 
does this. You have doubtless all felt a subtile, 
pervasive atmosphere surrounding particular peo- 
ple, a "virtue" going forth from them in some 
indescribable manner, reaching and blessing you, 
which has compelled you to acknowledge that 
they are dispensers of a power which ordinary peo- 
ple seem not to convey. Now if you are in some 
such manner attracted to a healer it is because he has 
already treated you and you have felt the beneficial 
result, which always accompanies and follows the 
establishment of harmony in your mental sphere. 
Some people possess this gift in marvelous degree, and 
only those who can help others unconsciously by reason 
of this helpful force going from them to others, are 
really well adapted to become professional healers. As 
in many lines of business good address goes a great 
way, and persons of considerable intelligence are 
frequently unfit for prominent positions where they^ 



272 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Lave to constantly meet and converse with many people, 
because of their lack of all that goes to make up what 
is commonly called "good address," ,so a public healer 
who would make healing his life work, as physicians 
devote themselves to the pratice of medicine, should 
invariably be one who can inspire confidence and 
regard in the great majority of the sufferers he 
encounters or who come to him for advice and treat- 
ment.. What is often regarded as necessary on the 
patient's part is at first inseparable from certain qualifi- 
cations in the healer essential to induce it, so while often- 
times stumbling blocks may be placed by the patient 
in the way of his own recovery by his own obdurate 
bigotry or folly, it frequently happens that the "too 
little faith" is in the healer as well as in the patient. 
The Gospel narratives amply illustrate this fact, as 
they record a variety of cases where the disciples failed 
to heal because of their own imperfections, while many 
other cases present the fact of the fault being on the 
side of the invalids. Faith of the right sort is required 
on both sides. The healer needs to be so well grounded 
in spiritual conviction, as to be above the doubts and 
fears which so readily assail the ordinary individual, 
while the paitent often needs that stimulation of faith 
which contact with a more thoroughly convinced mind 
frequently supplies. Prejudices must be laid aside, 
the patient must endeavor to let go of bigotry and give 
the healer a fair field, though a true healer asks no 
favors. Faith in the sense of belief is a response to a 
blessing already received, while faith in its deeper 
sense means perfect straightforwardness, honesty in 
thought, word and action. It you find yourselves in- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPECTICS. 273 

spiring confidence in yourself and tke system you ad- 
vocate, even among people who have hitherto been 
totally indifferent and skeptical if not positively 
antagonistic to spiritual methods of healing, } T ou have 
evidence that from you has gone forth to them a force 
as palpable to their interior sense as a flower's fragrance 
i s to your exterior sense of smell. When you can arouse 
faith in all its meanings in those to whom you fain 
would minister, you are showing indisputable credentials 
vouching for your genuine ability to heal. 

Ques. ~No. 23. /hat is chemicalization? Is it 
a necessary stage in unfoldmentf 

Aisrs. Chemicalization is equivalent to crisis and 
ferment, it occurs when new thoughts are actively 
engaged in conquering old opinions. All physicians 
speak much of crises and declare them to be the turn- 
ing points in the conditions of their patients. Chemi- 
calization is often inevitable though no one is justified 
in assuming that it is invariably necessary, for many 
cases have been known to yield instantly to spiritual 
power, without the patient suffering anything of the 
nature of a crisis. To explain the workings of the 
various forces, all operating upon a patient, from most 
discordant sources, would require a lengthy discourse, 
and, as in reply to a question , we can do little more 
than hint at the solution of a complex problem, we must 
request our readers to ponder our remark long and 
carefully, that by setting their minds upon the subject 
under consideration they may induce a mental state 
favorable to the reception at" ideas through their own 
interior avenues of perception. We all speak and hear 
much of the force of habit, and those of us who are at 
18 



274 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

all familiar with psychological influence, must be more 
or less aware that when a practice, be it desirable or 
undesirable, gains powerful hold over a person's mind, 
it is in consequence of a (usually unconscious) establish 
ment of psychical relations between his mind and the 
minds of others. Let us look for a moment at habits 
and their formation. Almost without exception habits 
are forced on sensitive people, very young people, and 
children in particular, from without, they seem rarely to 
be evolved from within. Many of the most pernicious 
practices to which men are addicted, do not seem indi- 
genous to the natural mind, they are artificially induced 
through contact with people who influence those 
younger and in some respects weaker than themselves. 
Drinking and smoking as well as the filthy and detest- 
able habit of chewing tobacco, with many other forms 
of impropriety, are usually pressed upon a boy by older 
companions, into the net of whose vile mesmeric fascina- 
tion he is ignorantly drawn. Whenever one does any- 
thing one feels to be degrading or even unpleasant, 
because of an outside influence urging him to do it, he 
is yielding to a psychological influence of the baser 
sort and forming mental associations of the most 
dangerous character, from whose grasp he may 
find it difficult in the extreme to struggle free in 
future years. As men follow each other in paths 
of vice so do even virtuous women follow each 
other in the paths of folly, and in many things allow 
themselves to be led wholly by some stupid fashion 
or prevailing custom, which in their hearts they thor- 
oughly despise. These weak yieldings to extraneous 
influence so far impoverish the will and render people 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS, ViO 

unnaturally susceptible to every foul thing about them, 
that when they least expect it they find themselves 
overtaken with some pestilential, though fashionable 
because prevalent, disorder. Kow when spiritual force 
operates to break the chains and loosen the bonds which 
hold the prisoner captive in the clutches of degrading- 
error, a conflict ensues, the devil struggles to keep his 
prize in his embrace, while the Christ works to take his 
victim from him. Many instances in the Eew Testa- 
ment forcibly illustrate this experience. Take the 
unclean spirits tearing the demoniacs when they came 
out of them. You probably all know the ancient 
Oriental theoiy of disease, it was invariably attributed 
to the action of powers of darkness, and thus, loosing 
the bonds of wickedness and delivering people from 
demoniacal possession (a process often called exorcism) 
played a very conspicuous part in all Eastern methods 
of healing. Modern Spiritualism has thrown much 
light on some of these ancient records by starting a 
theory of obsession, which is practically identical with 
the old belief in demoniacal possession. Such theories, 
while they are not wholly true and are terribly subject 
to exaggeration, being frequently pressed so far as to 
make them ridiculous as well as dangerous, nevertheless 
contain sufficient truth to explain much which would 
be utterly incomprehensible without their aid. Chem- 
icalization is simply a modern expression recognizing 
exorcism in a more intelligent form, as belief in evil is 
now being greatly modified in all enlightened circles 
where psychology is receiving the attention it deserves. 
We can readily see how all the influences which tend 
to degrade man may have been massed together by 



270 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

ancient philosophers, who styled them collectively man's 
"evil genius," and how all of an elevating char- 
acter have been similarly massed and designated " good 
genius." Now the true spiritual healer stands to the 
patient as a representative of the good genius, while all 
that opposes his enlightenment and recovery stands in 
the attitude of evil genius. The struggle for ascendency 
between the true and the false, theAvise and the foolish, 
confidence and fear, love and hate, etc., is chemicaliza- 
tion. 

Ques. No. 2-i. Can you present to us any other cer- 
tain method of developing the moral fruitfulness in man's 
nature than that which is laid down in the Scriptures, 
where the physical and intellectual developments have 
failed to briny spiritual life to light f Is there any the- 
ological creed, ancient philosophy ', or modern " liberal-- 
ism " which has or can change one soul from slavery to sin 
(i. e. passion, revenge, etc., etc.), to that freedom of spirit 
and soid which was promised and is still given by the 
Holy Spirit through faith in the Son of God, who alone 
ever claimed to do the will of God or to forgive sins f 

Ans. We do not pretend to give any teachings in 
opposition to those contained in the New Testa- 
ment. It is simply our desire to arrive at the spiritual 
truth enshrined in its letter instead of clinging to its 
outward husk that causes us to take issue with prevail- 
ing orthodox opinions. Our view of Scripture is that 
all ancient Scriptures which have been and still are 
highly venerated by multitudes, in their letter reflect 
the general sentiment of the times in which thev were 
written, but in their spirit they deal with essential 
truths of vital moment to mankind at all times and 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 277 

every where. Now as to a certain method of developing 
our moral nature, we should most decidedly take 
ground that it can only be developed at all by a sincere 
and determined effort of will in the direction of its 
development, and by will we mean affection putting 
forth an effort to reach its object. In the Athanasian 
Creed the opening words Qmuumque vult signify who- 
ever wills or earnestly desires salvation mnst hold to 
the universal faith, and it has always been a tenet of 
Christianity that the will must be perfectly surrendered, 
and that lovingly (not through fear) to the Divine Will, 
or salvation, for which regeneration is but another 
word, is impossible. Now it is a self-evident conclu- 
sion reached by all students of human nature that noth- 
ing can be successfully accomplished in any direction 
apart from persistent effort in that direction. The will 
must be directed toward the cultivation of muscle, in- 
tellect or art, or culture in those lines is impossible. 
The only unpardonable sin is blasphemy against the 
Holy Spirit, Avhich means a deliberate steeling of 
one's affections against truth. It is certainly a correct 
view to take of education that mere secular training is 
by no means adequate to secure the highest welfare of 
humanity, but spiritual culture is not brought about by 
dogmatic theology or by the enforcement of creeds, 
but solely by the influence of moral suasion in its 
highest sense. As to changing a soul from slavery to 
sin, to a state of freedom and righteousness, we should 
pronounce all creeds and institutions inadequate to the 
accomplishment of this divine work, which can only be 
brought about by the liberation of the spiritual man 
from bondage to the mortal belief which makes of evil 



278 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

an abiding reality, a potent force in the universe, either 
personal or otherwise, and thereby creates a dread of 
its power. To destroy all fear of evil and all belief in 
its potency is to deliver men from its clutches. We 
yield universally to what we fear as well as to w T hat we 
love, and where the love of sin appears not to exist, the 
fear of it, and particularly the dread of its conse- 
quences, leads to its commission, not through deliberate 
intent, but through weakness, which is always at one 
with abject susceptibility. As to faith in the Son of 
God, we can understand the Swedenborgian expression 
that we must be adjoined to the Lord by affection fo 1 
good, but the ordinary evangelical interpretation of 
faith is to our mind extremely unsatisfactory. Faith 
means fidelity to conviction, and springs from love of 
truth, not from a mere intellectual assent to proposi- 
tions of truth. As to the forgiveness of sin, sin never 
is forgiven in the old ecclesiastical sense. It has to be 
outgrown in every sense, and to forgive it as Jesus for- 
gave is to destroy the love of it and prevent its re-com- 
mission, not at all to deliver the one who has already 
committed it from the reformatory penalty. 

Ques. No. 25. Please explain in condensed form the 
practical teaching of Christian, Mental and Spiritual 
Science when freed from the points of difference over 
which special parties wrangle? 

Axs. Probably most, if not all our readers are quite 
well acquainted with the names " Christian Science," 
u Mental Science" and " Spiritual Science." Metaphys- 
ical healing is now practiced under these different names 
all over the world. The essential truth presented by 
this system is that mind is entirely sovereign, matter 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 279 

being totally subservient to it. All take the ground 
which has been taken by philosophers from time imme- 
morial, that all is mind, and therefore there is no mat- 
ter. This statement is certainly astounding to the ear 
of an ordinary listener. The statement in one sense 
appears groundless, because it seems to destroy all our 
confidence in our senses. But when we realize that all 
that is necessarily implied in such a statement is, that 
there can be no effect without a cause adequate to pro- 
duce it, and that all material things are simply phenom- 
enal effects, while there is a great spiritual power be- 
hind everything, we are only called to look upon the 
external universe as the shadow of the spiritual, which 
is the substantial universe. The substantial is immor- 
tal ; it can never die or fade away. The shadow comes 
and goes, while eternal stability pertains only to that 
which is as deathless as the Eternal Being who has 
spoken all things into existence. 

Now, w r hen man realizes himself as one with eternal 
life, he knows that the only life of which he can be con- 
scious is the one life which fills immensity, there being- 
no void nor emptiness anywhere. Our views of life 
are hereby lifted entirely above the material plane. We 
are carried in thought beyond all perishable forms of 
clay and made to realize that we are spirit, that we all 
belong to one great family, and that we have — in the 
last analysis of our subject — no parent except the 
eternal God, and no destiny except to enjoy conscious 
relation with the eternal soul of all life forever. 

The word metaphysical means beyond physics, and 
mind over matter. It really means, in its fullest sense, 
everything included in the vast domain of what lies 
beyond the reach of the physical senses. 



280 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

While metaphysicians do not call themselves The- 
osophists or Spiritualists, and do not take any sectarian 
name, or join with any particular creed or party, we 
may safely say that their universal object is to investi- 
gate the realm of soul, and learn all they can concerning 
spiritual being, to distinguish between outward exist- 
ence, which is at the very best transitory and evanescent, 
and that being which is eternal and immortal, which 
never changes, and can never pass away 

As the word theology literally means the science of 
God, and of all things divine, as truly as geology means 
the science of the earth, or of terrestrial things in gen- 
eral, equally may we affirm that spiritual science means 
the science of the spiritual man, the science of the spir 
itual universe, yes, and the science of God also, for there 
is no sublimer and clearer definition of the Supreme 
Being to be found in any literature, ancient or modern, 
than in John's gospel, where Jesus, in conversation 
with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, declares 
'God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must wor- 
ship him in spirit and in truth." 

Now when the Jews and Samaritans were disputing 
among themselves whether God should be worshiped 
in the temple at Jerusalem, or from the top of the 
mountain where the ruined temple of the Samaritans 
was still standing, Jesus said practically : It matters 
not whether in the temple at Jerusalem, or on this 
mountain-top ; whether in the open desert, or in the 
solitude of your own inner chamber ; whether in the 
crowded streets and busy thoroughfares dedicated to 
places of business, or in halls devoted to amusement. 
You can worship God everywhere by doing all things 
to the glory of God. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 2S1 

Now, the real object of metaphysical instruction is 
to help people to put into practice Paul's affirmation 
that we should pray without ceasing. We can do all 
things to the glory of God, whether we eat or drink, 
or whatever we do. It does not need to be explained 
that God does not need anything at our hands, God 
is never hungry nor thirsty, nor in want of any kind ; 
we can not minister directly unto Him, but His 
children all around us are in need, and when we give 
to them Ave are presenting an acceptable offering to 
the Eternal Being, who can only be pleased as we 
bless the children of His love, who are our brethren 
as well as His children. 

We agree with all true Theosophists who explain 
that the basis of Theosophy is universal brotherhood, 
and that all true philosophy must be built upon this 
one foundation. We must recognize the unity and 
brotherhood of the entire human race, so that every 
man is our brother and every woman our sister. We 
must not only helieve, we must feel this, and there can 
be no true metaphysical work done so long as we un- 
duly respect wealth or even intellect ; so long as we 
divide ourselves into aggressive knots and groups and 
parties, looking down upon some as inferior, while we 
regard others as superior ; so long as we look to the 
outward form and fashion of men ; so long as we care 
for a long line of hereditary descent, for what is com- 
monly called blue blood flowing in our veins ; so long 
as we reverence the god of gold, to which so many bow 
in servile adoration ; so long as we care for vain fash- 
ions and frivolities, and consequently raise our voices 
in concert with the multitude, " Great is Diana of the 



282 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Ephesians," if she be the popular deity of the hour, we 
may be spiritual scientists in abstract belief, but we 
shall ignoininiously fail in practice. But when we learn 
to truly respect ourselves so as to live in accordance 
with the light which shines in the innermost recesses 
of the soul, when we direct our path by the voice 
which speaks within us, then we shall be free indeed, 
free in truth, and our freedom will not consist only in 
freedom from the fear of death, but also from sickness 
and the recognition of death altogether. 

It may sound strange to many persons, even if they 
have read Mrs. Eddy's work, " Science and Health," to 
be told that there is in reality neither death, sick- 
ness nor sin in all the universe; but we must 
learn to look away from all things perishable to divine 
realities ; we must learn to find within man that which 
is alone enduring, which is never sick and never suf : 
fers, even the divine soul which never dies. It cer- 
tainly sounds very strange to be told there is no sin, 
no sickness, no death, while we see so many prisons 
and reformatories, which cause us to say with much 
show of reason, " It is, indeed, a reality that sin 
abounds." While hospitals are filled with sick people, 
is not sickness a reality? Is not death a reality when 
we are requested again and again to officiate at funeral 
services, and cemeteries are filled with dead bodies? 
But we ask, what is it that sins ? What is . it that suf- 
fers? What is it that dies? It can only be an external 
adjunct to man. Man surely is a deathless entity who 
can neither sin, nor be sick, nor die. 

This great truth concerning man is surely appre- 
hended, or, at least, vaguely recognized, when we talk 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 283 

of our better moments. We all realize that we have a 
higher self, and we all talk of our better moments 
What are we talking of, if not of our real, cardinal 
nature, which is the foundation of all our existence? Is 
not this our true and imperishable being? And is it 
not desirable that we should become practically oblivi- 
ous to external things, for the sake of more fully appre- 
ciating the real and ever living spirit that we are here 
and now ? 

We shall not become spiritual entities after we have 
dropped the mortal form. We shall not go to a spirit- 
ual world when these mortal forms have passed into 
dust. We shall not then become the sons of God, but 
we are such, here and now, and when our mortal 
forms have passed away nothing will have passed from 
us save an outward garment of flesh. 

Now, when we undertake to treat j^atients in har- 
mony with spiritual science, we find ourselves obliged 
to direct the patient's thoughts away from external 
things altogether; therefore, instead of dwelling con- 
tinually on outward signs and symptoms, instead of 
highly regarding the body, and always quizzing it to 
find out, if possible, in what condition it may be; 
instead of administering medicine at certain hours, and 
endeavoring to keep a room at a regulation tempera- 
ture, and performing a variety of outward ceremonies, 
we know that liberation from disease is to get out of 
the thought of these material works, and forget, at 
least for the time being, that there is anything 
external. 

Now, in order to get out of the external we must 
get into the spiritual. You can not think of nothing. 



284 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

you can not long do nothing. Every person will 
occupy himself in some way, if not profitably, then 
mischievously. Our minds will never remain still, and 
therefore to say we must not think of matter, we must 
not regard the flesh, and leave the statement in so 
unfinished a form is to preach a doctrine which prac- 
tically means nothing, because no man can long com- 
ply with its requirements. But when we say, "Fix 
your thought upon spiritual form; maintain that all 
is life, all is good ; look within, take a glance at your 
own immortal soul, and find yourself face to face with 
the stupendous reality of spiritual being," we know 
that your mental gaze can be so riveted upon the 
immortal that you will completely forget the mortal. 
Your whole thought will be concentrated on the 
eternal, and so you will become unmindful of the 
material, and of all outside the interior realm, where 
your higher consciousness forever dwells secure. 

Speaking of outward aids to interior development, 
many people inquire, " Of what possible use can a talis- 
man be?" We do not ourselves believe that sacred 
words have any efficacy of their own resting in them. 
But as for thousands of years people have worn or 
otherwise employed them, as many Jews have placed 
texts of Scripture in little houses, upon their foreheads, 
and upon their arms, that they might be perpetually 
reminded of divine truth ; and while among enlight- 
ened Jews there never was a time when the tephilin 
were considered of talismanic value, they being only 
used as reminders of great spiritual truths, so all out- 
ward assistants are, from a metaphysical standpoint, 
regarded as valuable only in so far as they direct the 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 285 

thought to a desired object. The words, "Hear, 
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One," whenever 
their eyes lighted upon the Hebrew characters 
they wore, would remind them of the great central 
truth of all religion, the Divine Unity. So when we 
are giving treatment, either verbally or silently, by 
presenting a thought we direct attention to a certain 
plane of idea. Eow if you look upon illuminated texts 
such as " Honesty is the best policy,'' or "Charity never 
faileth," or " Do unto others as you would that they 
should do unto you," you are at once reminded of truth 
which perhaps you had temporarily forgotten. If in a 
church a prayer is spoken or a hymn sung in } T our 
hearing, you are reminded of what perhaps you had 
forgotten in the multiplicity of your household cares. 

While it is impossible for us to do any work for our 
brethren in their stead, we can assist them to arise and 
work for themselves. The great work of the truly effi- 
cient metaphysical healer is the work of one who is 
continually presenting to a patient or student the line 
in which thoughts should march. When a line of 
march is indicated to us, when the right way is 
pointed out, and a voice says to us, "This is 
the way ; walk ye in it," there comes along with the 
pointing a subtle, restraining and inducing power ; it is 
not mesmeric ; it is not psychologic in any ordinary 
sense; it is not one mind controlling or exercising 
authority over another; for the true metaphysical 
healer is an educator, an enlighten er of his brethren ; 
for when we undertake to place truth before our 
patient, we desire to make that patient realize it and 
follow in that way which is pointed out to him by his 
newly awakened sense of spiritual discernment. 



286 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Spiritual science proclaims liberty for the individual 
enlightened by truth, to walk in the light of the truth 
as he himself perceives it. ^Multitudes of people love 
truth, but have not yet perceived it very clearly. Mul- 
titudes are longing to see some brighter ray before 
them, to hear a voice directing them where to go, and 
to discern a hand pointing in the true direction, 
and it is to help all such, to help all who are 
struggling into light, that we should work. 

Ques. No. 20. What is really meant by Metaphysical 
Healing, and how is cure effected if not by magnetism? 
Hoio can prayer heal the sick f 

In reply to the ever recurring question, what is 
meant by metaphysical healing, and what are the means 
by which cures are accomplished, we answer there 
are three means of healing plainly revealed in the New 
Testament ; at all events the three necessary requisites 
are Faith, Prayer and Fasting. Jesus says, "This 
kind," meaning the power to heal all manner of infirm- 
ities, "cometh not forth except by prayer and fasting." 
And He also says: "According to your faith be it unto 
you." 

Now, when asked to define prayer, we say prayer 
is our recognition of divine good, and our earnest 
endeavor to enter into intimate relation with it. Mont- 
gomery beautifully defined it when he sang, "Prayer is 
the soul's sincere desire , uttered or unexpressed . " 
Prayer is mental asking, mental seeking, mental knock- 
ing. 

Whenever we induce people to seek, to knock, to 
ask in a definite direction, whenever we help them to 
aspire toward the light, we teach them to pray rightly. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 287 

Prayer, therefore, can be continued without ceasing, 
and if we are cured of any ailment through the agency 
of prayer, we do not consider that any such cure is 
brought about vicariously or in any unnatural manner 
Individuals arc simply directed into channels of 
thought in which they continually aspire toward spir- 
itual light. Desire is prayer ; moral effort to attain to 
virtue is prayer ; but the prayer of faith is the only 
effectual prayer, as it is aspiration or desire after virtue 
and does not allow the word " cannot " in its vocabu- 
lary. It maintains that whatever is right for us to 
have can be received by us just because it is right for 
us to receive it. Faith in its grand old sense means fidel- 
ity, honor, straightforwardness of character, nobility, 
integrity; it means everything that stands for grand 
and noble character, not mere belief, concerning which 
contentious persons are ever wrangling and disputing, 
but noble virtue, moral excellence, ethical worth. Then 
.fasting, what is it? Not going without food at stated 
intervals necessarily, but the complete subjugation of 
lower to higher impulses. We must deny our lower 
selves— sacrifice our lower appetites, that we may gain 
true freedom to fulfill the desires of our nobler instincts. 
Now, if all students realize that they must pray, 
exercise faith and fast' — in the sense in which we have 
defined these terms — we know that to-day there 
may be a spiritual outpouring as great as there ever 
was in ancient Galilee. It rests w T ith ourselves as to 
whether, when we teach or attempt to heal, the result 
is or is not a truly pentecostal one. We must all re- 
member we have still very much to learn. While 
the writings of Mrs. Eddy, Dr. Evans and others, may 



288 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

assist many to the light, the source of light is within 
us. In every human being dwells the divine word ; 
therefore every essential word of truth must come from 
within, not from without. The living oracle, the ever- 
speaking word of God, must be recognized, or success 
can not crown our endeavors. We need more reliance 
upon our own spiritual nature, and far more direct, 
communion with the source of all light. 

Spiritual science will tend to make us calm, quiet, 
strong with quiet strength, less dependent upon legal 
measures, outward modes of attack, controversial ar- 
gument and money, and infinitely more dependent upon 
that silent, spiritual power which is strictly invisible 
and absolutely potential. Many live like people who have 
long subsisted upon fruitful soil and land which con- 
tained valuable ore, but have known nothing of their 
possessions, contented with scanning the surface. 
Kow, though our land has become no richer, we are 
told of our hidden possessions, of the wealth of our 
mines, and we discover that our land is highly arable 
and can yield beautiful flowers, delicious fruits and 
golden harvests of grain. 

JSTow, let us set to work and plant our vineyards and 
olive groves. Let us get our mines to work and our 
wells in operation, and though formerly our resources 
were as great, and our possessions as large as now, we 
knew nothing of them, so we now commence for the 
first time to enter consciously into our inheritance. 

Thus do we find the golden key which unlocks the 
inmost secrets of our nature, unfolding to us our price- 
less latent treasures, which, though adding nothing to 
our capabilities, brings to light hidden things divine. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 289 

The science of spirit is the golden key which 
opens up the spiritual heaven to all, just as civilization, 
with all its discoveries and implements, reveals to us 
the treasures hidden within the earth, and beneath the 
ocean wave — treasures which have been there for cen- 
turies, but of which we knew nothing until our atten 

tion was called to them and they were placed at our 
command. 

Feel that there are spiritual gems of every hue 
lying buried in your inmost nature, as old Greek phil- 
osophers would express it, your latent knowledge only 
needs to be brought out by education; and ever as \ T ou 
seek to bring forth the treasures which are embedded 
in your soul, remember there are just two effective 
modes of digging, delving and diving, and these 
methods are love of truth and practice of charity. 

If you are lovers of truth and also lovers of your 
fellow-beings; if you can bear to stand alone, face to 
face with your own interior life, and not quail before 
its revealments, then you can rise superior to every 
mortal passion and the consequent ailments proceed- 
ing from sensuous indulgence. 



19 



TEACHINGS 

OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE CONCERNING OUR TREATMENT OF THE 
LOWER ANIMALS. 

THAT noble and glorious reformer, Anna Kings!" or d 
M. D., (Paris) having passed from the mortal 
form, leaving behind her many works of great value 
which have never been published or in any way re-pro- 
duced in America, though the Esoteric Publishing Com- 
pany, 478, Shawmut Avenue, Boston, issues a very good 
edition of her marvelous treatise entitled, "The Perfect 
Way," at the moderate price of $2. We have ventured 
to incorporate into our present work some of this saint- 
ly and heroic woman's carefully digested and eminently 
scientific views on "Unscientific Science," which, 
when contrasted with the human teachings of a gra- 
cious and merciful spiritual science, will serve to show 
the utter irreconcilability of cruelty in any form with 
the work of even physically benefiting humanity. The 
most serious attention of our readers is particularly 
called to Dr. Kingsford's unanswerable plea for " phil- 
osophic unity" which is expressed in the following 
words at the opening of her lecture entitled Scientific 
Aspects of Vivisection, a lecture replete with the most 
valuable and authentic testimony gathered from every 
available source in Europe. It is with deep regret 
we find ourselves unable to insert it in this volume: 

290 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 291 

k * The century in which we live is one of investigation, 
criticism and thought. Dogmas and traditions are no 
longer accepted upon hearsaj r , or even upon authority. 
Everything is canvassed, discussed, verified, tested by 
reason. 

'" The reign of autocratic power seems to be in deca- 
dence, and that of philosophic force begins to assert 
itself. Men are awakening to the fact that the true 
glory of humanity consists in the faculty of reason, 
and that that which constitutes the human being is not 
a special physical conformation, but a mind enlight- 
ened, enfranchised, and capable of lofty aims. 

" I posit then, this fundamental principle, that the 
truly human and reasonable life is based upon an exact 
philosophy. The basic idea of philosophy is to reduce 
everything to Unity ; to make of the various facts and 
diverse interests of our existence a synthesis, a consist- 
ent whole, harmonious and equilibrated in all its parts 
as a sphere of "which the radii all converge to one and 
the same central point. Ko\\ r it is this condition of 
equilibrium in the mind which constitutes justness, and 
it is the faculty of recognizing and comprehending the 
necessity of philosophic unity which is the distinctive 
appanage of the reasonable and enlightened being. 

" It follows from the premiss thus announced that no 
method of judgment ought to be considered correct 
which opposes the interests and indications of science 
to those of morality, which causes discord between the 
aims and objects of physical welfare and those of the 
spiritual being, which creates confusion between cer- 
tain supposed material utilities and the necessities of 
the moral nature of mankind. From this point of view. 



292 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. w 

and guided by this principle of philosophic unity, let 
us examine the theory and art of vivisection as it is 
practised by modern biologists." 

Dr. Kingsford's lecture on " scientific aspects of vivi- 
section" concludes with the following reference to the 
testimony of one of the most noted physicians Great 
Britain has produced : 

" Sir Charles Bell, warned by the unfortunate results 
of his own and others' experiments, devotes eighty 
pages of his ' Exposition of the Natural System of the 
Nerves of the Human Body' (1824) to the study and 
explanation of clinical and pathological cases. He re- 
gards artificial experiments as superfluous and without 
value in presence of the precious facts which every hospi- 
tal ward and post-mortem room yield to investigation. 
And he cites examples calculated to call attention to 
the fact that frequently the true interpretation of ex- 
perimental results altogether escapes the operator, be- 
cause the animal on which he experiments is incapable 
of recounting its sensations, and its mere dumb gestures 
may, as often as not, give rise to false impressions in 
regard to their cause. In confirmation of this view, 
he relates many clinical cases of nerve-injury which 
served as a basis for his researches and discoveries, 
solely on account of the explanation given by the pa- 
tients themselves of their personal experiences and sen- 
sations." 

UNSCIENTIFIC SCIENCE. 

MORAL ASPECTS OF VIVISECTION. 
BY DR. ANNA KINGSFORD. 

Apologists of the practice appear to think that the 
desire of knowledge is in itself sufficient to vindicate 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 203 

all the cruelties and injustices imaginable. They do 
not seem to recognize the fact that every branch of intel- 
lectual research has its moral limits, and that the quest 
of pleasure, of wealth, of power, or of knowledge must 
never, in a civilized state, be permitted to outrage jus- 
tice or the law of humanity. 

In the ancient religious mysteries of all the nations 
of the globe, it is said that the fall of man ensues when 
he sacrifices moral-obedience to the intellectual desire 
to know. Ah, it is primal and profound truth, and for 
this reason it finds its place in the initial chapters of the 
occult Book. There are certain m eunx of acquiring knowl- 
edge of which man can not make use without forfeiting 
his place in the Divine Order. 

We know well that there exist many practices which 
are extremely profitable in their results, but which are 
not legitimate, and which civilization does not tolerate, 

In former times human lives were sacrificed to the 
interests of the fine arts. It is related that a certain 
painter of celebrity, wishing to sieze the effects of vio- 
lent death, caused a negro slave to be decapitated in his 
studio; and that another artist, famous for the talent he 
displayed in the interests of the Church, crucified an 
unfortunate youth in order to secure a faithful model 
for an altar-piece portraying the expiring Christ. 

Such acts as these are not in the category of legit- 
imate practices, whatever may be Lhe artistic or other 
value of their results ; and the same may be said of 
many other pursuits constituting so many sciences in- 
vented by man to enrich, to amuse, or to aggrandize 
himself, but which are. by the consensus of modern 
opinion, discountenanced and outlawed. 



2 ( «)4 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

It is necessary that men should understand the 
mere plea of " science " to be insufficient as a justifica- 
tion of human action. There are sciences of a legiti- 
mate and civilized nature, tending toward light, wis- 
dom and righteousness, and there are others which arc 
neither legitimate nor civilized, and whose results can 
only end in the obliteration of sentiment, the negation 
of humanity, and the destruction of true science and 
true civilization, v The progress made by vivisection is 
an advance upon the downward path."/ 

And here we are brought face to face with the fact 
that the vivisecting school is pre-eminently the mate- 
rialistic and atheistic school; while the school of spirit- 
ualistic thought is, by the very nature of its philosophy, 
opposed to vivisection.* 

The materialist has no fundamental notion of Jus- 
tice. For him everything is vague, relative, inexplica- 
ble. He is acquainted only with physical atoms, chem- 
ical elements, protoplasm and the theory of the evolu- 
tion of forms without aim and without order. In his 
view there is only a blind force acting in the midst of 
darkness. Consequently, morality is not for him a de- 
termined and positive quality, having its source in the 
divine and inviolable Mind which directs and dominates 
all material manifestation ; it is but a matter of human 
habit and convention, differing according to the particu- 
lar time, place and race concerned. The man who adopts 
this view of morality of course accepts the civil law as 
the soul arbiter of action, and regards conduct as repre- 

*Of course I use the word " spiritualist " in its real and original sense, as 
opposed to " materialist."— e. </, regarding' the universe as having' a spiritual 
and intelligent basis. I do not employ the word as a synonym for any spe- 
cial doctrines other than this. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 295 

hensible, or the reverse, according to the light in which 
it is popularly viewed by his own nation and era. The 
sentiments, such as honor, justice, courage, pity, love, 
loyalty, are for him but idiosyncrasies, varying accord- 
ing to such and such a temperament and depending 
for their manifestation and development on physical 
and accidental causes. Naturally, then, he laughs at 
appeals to sentiment, and boasts of being inaccessible 
to the " hysterical attacks " of " sensitive and weak- 
minded fanatics/' When he says this, and other simi- 
lar things, he simply means that the words "pity " and 
"justice" have no sense for him. There is but one 
only thing in the world which appears to him worthy 
of desire and attainment, and that is knowledge — 
knowledge always, and before all things, without any 
restriction or limitation of the means employed in its 
attainment. 

The materialist does not understand that the Source 
and Substance of every series of phenomena, material 
and physical, the origin of Avhich he seeks so eagerly 
to interpret, is equally the necessary Cause of the evo- 
lution which has produced humanity, whose distinctive 
appanage is the moral nature. To think otherwise 
would be to create illogical and absurd confusion be- 
tween science and morality, by opposing intellect and 
intellectual interests to justice and the interests of the 
psychic being. 

Thus is brought about the inevitable negation of 
philosophic unity. 

But it is no uncommon thing to hear partisans of 
vivisection meet the charge of injustice and immorality 
made against the practice by the reply that it is a 



296 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



work of the highest intrinsic merit, because it lias for 
its object the welfare of humanity. 

Let us stop and consider what is meant by " the 
welfare of humanity." What is the signification of 
the word " humanity," so often used, so little under- 
stood? For the materialistic and vivisecting school 
we know very well that humanity imports nothing else 
than the special physical form of an animal belonging 
to the family of apes, a creature having such and such 
conformation of cerebral convolutions, skeleton, and 
organs. It is the body, the physical form, which con- 
stitutes humanity, and that is all. But for the spirit- 
ualistic school of thought, humanity means the mani- 
festation of certain qualities and principles which find 
no expression among irresponsible beings — a condition 
raised above animality in virtue of a special moral ca- 
pacity. Consequently, even were it true (which it is 
not) that physical human life could be saved, and bod- 
ily advantages obtained by means of cruel and tyran- 
nical practices, such practices would still be, from the 
human point of view, completely unjustifiable. y The 
human race can not be saved or enriched by acts which 
destroy and rob humanity.^ The physical life and 
health of individuals would be too dearly preserved or 
bought by the sacrifice of the high qualities which 
alone constitute man's superiority over all other creat- 
ures. The champions of vivisection demand the 
abasement of the moral standard of our race to the 
level of the primitive instinct of purely animal exist- 
ence—the preservation of the body at any cost. Such 
a surrender would involve the destruction of that which 
is infinitely more "Precious than our physical life,of 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 2'JT 

that which gives to this life all its worth and all its 
glory, — the dignity of human sentiment, and the priv- 
ilege of responsibility. 

What would be said of any person who, being sick 
or in pain, should cause a number of highly sensitive 
animals to be tortured for hours or days in his pres- 
ence, on the remote chance of thereby discovering 
some means of alleviation for his own malady? Who 
among us, hearing of such an act as this, but would 
say that such a man was not worth the saving? And 
why should the motives of a whole people which act 
thus in accepting the practices of vivisection, as the 
means of healing its physical ailments be held worthier 
our respect than those of the individual? 

There can be but one reply. ^ The human race, once 
beggared of all the attributes which alone enrich and 
elevate it, has no claim to royalty over the animals, 
and its salvation can in no wise profit the world/ 

For the unjust king is no longer a king, but a tyrant. 

Vivisection has upon its hands the blood of violence 
ami of abuse of force. No man ought to seek the re- 
lief of his suffering or the advance of his power at the 
price of the agonies of his lower brethren, even if such 
relief or advance should be really proved possible by 
these means. But it would seem that some physiolo- 
gists of the modern school are only anxious to prove 
our common origin with the animals, and consequently 
the ties of brotherhood which link them to us, in order 
the more tranquilly to claim the right to torture and 
misuse them. 

To vindicate the practices of vivisection by appeal 
to the "law of Nature," and to the habits of certain 



298 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

beasts who live by carnage, is to seek to regulate the 
conduct of the being highest in the series of evolution 
by the manners of those beings which are lowest in the 
scale, and to degrade the code of human morality to 
the plane of that of the wolf, the tiger, or any other 
irresponsible and noxious creature. 

What is the good of being a man — of being a 
"king" — if this high rank, this glorious title, imply no 
superiority to gross natures and to the common lot ? 
What is the meaning of all the mystery of develop- 
ment and of the transmutation of forms which, ac- 
cording to the teaching of science, have occupied so 
many thousand ages of painful evolution, and by 
which alone we men have gained our majesty of moral 
force and responsibilit}^, if at the bidding of the vivi- 
sector we are to abandon our royal privilege, and sink 
again into the slime beside the last and most obscure of 
011!' vassals ? 

Ay, and lower even than they. For the " struggle 
for existence" among irresponsible beings, about which 
the vivisectors talk so much, rarely implies torture, 
but only death. The claim of the vivisector is for the 
right to inflict torture, in which but very few animals, 
and these the most ferocious and loathsome, appear to 
take pleasure. If, then, it be true that man has the 
right to kill certain animals, as he has that to kill cer- 
tain men, this right does not involve the infliction of 
prolonged and horrible suffering. At the present day, 
in civilized countries, condemned criminals are given 
over to death, but never to the flames, never to the 
rack or the oubliette. We have no right to inflict upon 
innocent animals torments to which pity forbids us to 
subject guilty men. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 299 

The force which ought to dominate the world is not 
physical force, nor even purely intellectual force ; but 
it is, above and beyond all other, moral and philosoph- 
ical force, which alone differentiates man from the 
beast and distinguishes the civilized being from the 
barbarbian. S 

In fact, the distinctive glory of humanit}" is based 
on the sentiments — those divine qualities which have 
ever inspired all the noble and worthy actions of our 
race, and which are everywhere recognized as the most 
^recious heritage of mankind. 

It is probably because the beliefs of materialism 
stifle the sentiments in its devotees that they fail to 
perceive how inapposite are manj r of the comparisons 
drawn by them between the practices they defend and 
others recognized as useful and necessary to the State. 
A favorite argument is that which likens the craft of 
the vivisector to the profession of the soldier. Yet 
what is easier than to see that sentiment here enacts 
an enormously important part, and that there is all the 
difference in the world between the courage which 
gives itself of its own accord to danger and to death, 
and the cowardice which, at its ease at home, maltreats 
and martyrizes dumb and inoffensive creatures. 

Where is the analogy between the vivisectors lab- 
oratory, with its gagged, bound, and trembling victims, 
carved to death in cold blood, and the field of battle, 
where every man in each contending army fights for 
home and country under the inspiration of enthusiasm, 
ambition or the desire for renown ? 

Neither is there any resemblance between the prac- 
tices of vivisection and the great enterprises of civili- 



300 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

zation, such as engineering, exploration in unknown 
seas, and similar undertakings of a perilous nature, by 
appeal to which it has been sought to justify the scien- 
tific torture of animals ; for these last do not volun- 
tarily devote themselves to the knife. Men who take 
part in difficult works of construction, adventurers who 
traverse the arctic wastes or engage in other hazard- 
ous enterprises, are volunteers who follow the interest 
of their own satisfaction or personal profit at their own 
risk. 

There is a complete contrast between the free sac- 
rifice of oneself for the good of others and the enforced 
sacrifice of others for the good of oneself. The first 
is divine ; the second is infernal. And vivisection rep- 
resents a sacrifice of the latter kind. 

Moreover, as already has been said, death is not tor- 
ture. Let us remember that the right of vivisection 
differs from every other right assumed by men over 
animals by its peculiar nature, and that its defenders, 
if not wholly illogical or ignorant, vindicate the pro- 
priety of inflicting, not violent deaths, nor average 
pains merely, but horrible and prolonged agonies, such 
as that of the curarized dog cut to pieces by inches, and 
lingering, hour after hour, in the silence and darkness 
of the night — dying in torment in the laboratory of 
Paul Bert, the moralist! 

It is vain to appeal to the vivisectors themselves 
against the cruelties daily perpetrated in their chambers 
of horror. Formerly, when the priests of the mediaeval 
church burnt and tortured men for the salvation of 
souls, under the auspices of the Holy Office, it was not 
to the eminent deans and prelates of the sacred hie- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 301 

rarchy that the world addressed itself in order to obtain 
the abolition of the Inquisition and of its infamous 
practices. The priests of the religion of the middle 
ages, like the priests of science to-day, found fine 
phrases with which to defend themselves as a body of 
conscientious and disinterested men. Nevertheless, the 
question between the Church and the world was de- 
cided by the laity against the members of the eccle- 
siastical corporation, and there has never yet been rea- 
son to regret the loss of stake and rack and dungeon. 
/A science based upon torture can no more be true 
science than a religion based upon torture can be true 
religion.^ It is a new Reformation that we want — but 
this time in the domain of science! 

For the rest, the instruments used in our labora- 
tories of vivisection are much the same as in mediaeval 
times. The modern arsenal is fully as complete as was 
that of the da}^s of Torquemada, or Isabella of Spain — 
only now the dumb and innocent dog replaces the Jew 
or the heretic, and creatures which man judges his 
inferiors are bound to the wheel and tortured, with the 
hope of extorting from them the secret of life, in blind 
ignorance of the fact that Nature, outraged and agon- 
ized, replies like the human victim on the rack, more 
often by a lie than by the truth. 

Attempts have again and again been made to dis- 
suade anti-vivisectionists from the crusade they have 
undertaken, by inviting their attention and that of the 
public generally, to other abuses more or less grave, 
with the inquiry, "Why do not you kind-hearted 
people occupy yourselves with reforming the cruel 
practices of drovers, cab-drivers, sportsmen, slaughter- 



302 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

men, and their like ? Why do you not try to solace 
the misery that everywhere reigns outside the vivi- 
sector's laboratory, before you think of attacking the 
methods of men of science ? " 

To all this we reply that we do most strenuously 
occupy ourselves with these matters, but that every 
such effort is paralyzed by the fact that not only is 
vivisection by its very nature the most cruel of all 
cruelties, and therefore the head and front of offend- 
ing, but that it is, alone of all cruelties, protected by 
State legislation, although other and minor barbarisms 
are officially condemned. So long as the principle of 
cruelty is thus encouraged and kept alive by law, in the 
highest walks of science, all attempts to extirpate lesser 
cruelties elsewhere must prove unavailing. 

^ How, for instance, can we teach our children the 
duties of humanity toward dumb animals, when, in 
the course of their studies at school and college, they 
learn what horrors are perpetrated in the work-rooms 
of science by the masters and professors they are 
expected to revere and to imitate ?*/ Or how can we 
profitably interfere to check the barbarities of the 
streets, when it is in the power of the brutal carman or 
drover to retort that, no matter how he may maltreat 
his beast, he can not approach the cruelties of the phy- 
siological laboratory which have the full sanction of 
the law ? 'How can we urge him to cease working 
some old and worn-out horse, broken down by fatigue 
in the service of man, when the result of our charitable 
interference may possibly be, not the well-earned rest of 
a life-long toil, nor even quick death under the blow of 
the knacker's axe, but a long and horrible agony in some 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 303 

infernal school of vivisection for the benefit of "sci- 
ence " ? Alas, we can but stand by silent, praying only 
in our hearts that the poor, ill-used creature may rather 
be worked till he drops dead in his harness, than be 
delivered over to the tormentors to end his innocent 
life of faithful service in the pains of hell. Everything, 
rather than the scalpel, the saw and the hot iron of 
the vivisector ! 

/We demand justice ! Justice not only for innocent 
and defenseless animals, but for men themselves. 

The present law of this country is a law manifestly 
unjust and cowardly. It attacks the dwarfs and 
respects the giants of cruelty. The poor man who, in 
the interests of his livelihood, accidentally over-drives 
his horse or his donkey, is punished by the very Legis- 
lature which protects the learned professor who flays 
and burns alive scores of living creatures systematic- 
ally.^ 

The law ought to be administered equally to all 
men, whether rich or poor, professors or laics, ignorant 
or learned. Either it ought to be admitted that there 
is no harm in illtreating animals — and in such case 
a law which protects them is ridiculous — or the man who 
cuts up a dog alive in a laboratory merits punishment 
as much as the man who flogs a horse in the street, 
and in such case the law ought not to favor the social 
rank or pretext of the first malf actor at the expense of 
the last. ^If vivisection is to be permitted, encouraged 
and endowed by the State, then societies for the pro- 
tection of animals from cruelty have no locus standi, 
and ought to be abolished as anomalies at once absurd 
and illogical. / 



304: SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

A good Christian once said to me, " I should never 
be happy in the joys of Heaven if I knew that other 
souls were condemned to eternal torment. Such a 
thought as that would render all my own felicity bitter 
to me." Well, this is something like the feeling of 
anti-vivisectionists with regard to the suffering of the 
victims of the physiological laboratory. The frightful 
thought that every day the rising sun will witness the 
commencement of hundreds of long drawn martyrdoms 
of inoffensive creatures throughout Christendom ; the 
thought that every evening when we go to our rest 
the silence of night will but bring to these unhappy 
beings prolonged suffering, terror and agonizing death ; 
the thought that such things take place, not by acci- 
dent, or by nature, in far-off uncivilized countries, but 
here, in our midst, in the heart of our towns, next door, 
maybe, to our own home, by deliberate, organized, sys- 
tematic law-abiding act — this is what tears the heart, 
embitters life and forces us to the reflection that, after 
all, human civilization and human progress are but 
fever dreams, futile, meaningless and grotesque. 

And this is why, when the vivisectors ask us an- 
gril v, " What right have you to meddle with the re- 
searches of scientific men?" that we turn upon them 
with greater anger and retort in our turn, " What right 
have you to render earth uninhabitable and life insup- 
portable for men with hearts in their bosoms ? " 

It is not the fact, as the partisans of vivisection are 
never weary of declaring, that the public has shown 
itself incapable of judging scientific necessities, but 
rather that the scientists have shown themselves in- 
capable of recognizing the obligations of public mor- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 305 

ality. If in matters of technical physiology it be 
fair to regard the public as "profane," it is equally 
correct to regard the experts of vivisection as "pro- 
fane" in relation to the principles of moral conduct. 
Does the diploma of physiologists entitle them to pose 
as the exclusive arbiters of morality ? Or is it not rather 
the truth that, being themselves indifferent to the inter- 
ests of morality and incompetent to deal with psychic 
considerations, they assume the defenders of these to 
be ignorant of scientific exigencies and incapable of 
understanding them, solely because of their own moral 
blindness?" 

Now, the fact is that the question is quite as much 
of moral as of physical interest. 

If society be right in refusing to recognize the in- 
fallibility of a purely ecclesiastical caste in matters 
affecting the public conscience — as, for instance, in re- 
spect of religious persecution — it is equally right in 
refusing to admit the assumption of infallibility on the 
part of a caste exclusively scientific and materialistic in 
matters similarly affecting the public conscience. It 
was in the teeth of powerful vested interests that the 
world rejected compromise with the Inquisition and 
with the slave traffic, and the same considerations 
which influenced civilized men in dealing with these 
institutions must equally influence them to-day, face to 
face with the claims and interests of vivisection. 

It is vain to urge that the majority of modern tor- 
turers for science's sake are educated, intelligent and 
eminent men, illustrious savants, venerable professors, 
who are themselves the best judges of what is neces- 
sary for science — who may safely be trusted to act 
20 



306 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

for the best, and who are pre-eminently humane 
and sympathetic in their conduct and methods. Pre- 
cisely the same was said with equal truth of the ma- 
jority of torturers for religion's sake. They, too, were 
the learned, reverend and eminent men of their time, 
and like the vivisectors, were often genial and polished 
members of society, chiefs of distinction, dignitaries of 
high importance in the State. And there is no reason 
to doubt that the atrocities of which they were the 
eager authors and contrivers were instigated, not by 
a love of cruelty, but by zeal for the honor of religion 
and for the advance of the church, and by ardor for 
the good of humanity. 

Every custom that the world has seen, whatever its 
barbarity, has found apologists, simply because of its 
being a custom. 

History shows us that the abolition of human and 
other sacrifices in religious cults was in its time de- 
nounced as a menace for the faith, as an evidence of 
morbid sensibility and a symptom of degeneracy. 
Gladiatorial combats, cruel and barbarous amusements 
of all kinds, formerly popular, have in their turn been 
suppressed, and always in spite of the clamorous pro- 
testations of persons interested in their maintenance. 
No pretext based on the pretended utility of vivisec- 
tion ought to exempt it from the category of practices 
unworthy- of a civilized era. 

The abuse of force is an inexcusable crime and 
shame in those who claim despotic authority, and to 
seek to justify such abuse by representing it as a means 
of attaining a praiseworthy end is to argue, as did a 
certain celebrated brigand, who attempted to excuse 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 30 I 

his acts of violence by saying, " If I have committed 
robbery, I have robbed only heretics with the intention 
of enriching the coffers of the true Church." 
y Cruelty is always cruel, and only Jesuits and Paul 
Berts will dare to rehabilitate the sophistry expressed in 
the ecclesiastical axiom, " The end justifies the means," 
even when the "end" is "scientific progress," the 
means " suffering the most atrocious that the imagina- 
tion can conceive," and the victims, beings incapable of 
defending themselves or of avenging their wrongs. */ 

Happily for humanity, the arbiters of the national 
conscience are neither the ecclesiastics nor the biolo- 
gists, but the people. 

S\ reflect on the history of the inquisition, of slav- 
ery and of despotism, and I have confidence in the 
future! S 

^There is a better gospel than that of intellectual 
science, there is a higher law than that of physical 
utility. Do not let us fear, any of us, that by living 
up to the best and noblest in us we shall miss any good 
thing that might have been ours by baser means. The 
greater includes the lesser, and the science of Heaven 
encompasses all lower knowledges. Only let us seek 
first the kingdom of God and God's justice, and all 
these things shall be added unto us. There is nothing 
the righteous man may not know, for the spirit in him 
is divine, and able to unfold all secrets in their order.^ 

For love is the universal solvent, and love's 
method is in all its unfoldings consistent with its ob- 
ject and intent. 

In conclusion, I recommend specially to my breth- 
ren of the medical faculty those brave and worthy 



308 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

words which Dr. Samuel Johnson addressed to the 
physiologists of his da} r : 
/ "May all men of heart who follow the noble science 
of medicine, the aim of which is the relief of suffering, 
publicly condemn the practices of vivisection, for they 
are of a nature to discredit their profession, and will 
end by extinguishing in their votaries those sentiments 
which alone deserve the confidence of the public, and 
the absence of which is more to be dreaded than the 
worst of physical evils." . 



A FORM OF TREATMENT. 

[CONTRIBUTED BV AIRS. SARA HARRIS, BERKELEY, CAL.] 

I am Spirit divine in essence and included in the 
Universal. In the inmost and True Being I am not 
and can not be diseased, for I am perfect in the image 
and likeness of God. Over me matter has no control, 
for matter has neither sensation, intelligence or sub- 
stance; the real is spirit; only truth is eternal. The 
beliefs of the race, the current thought of the day, the 
influence of those around me, both seen and unseen, 
my own error, ignorance, grief, fear, malice, envy, 
revenge, murder, jealousy, shall no longer reflect disease 
in ni3 r body. 

God is my life, and I can not know death ; God is 
my health, and I can not know disease ; God is 1113^ 
strength, and I can not know weakness ; God is my 
peace, have no fear, be not afraid, for God is working 
through me both t<a will and to do His good pleasure. 
God's good pleasure is that I should have peace of 
mind, health of body and purity of life. This is already 
true of me in the Real Being. 

And tiow, in the name of the Universal Spirit of 
Truth, and through faith in omnipresent good, I 
declare all that is good, true and beautiful of me in 
spirit to be true of me in body. Error and ignorance 
have held me in bondage ; the truth of the Real Being 
shall set me free. 

309 



LEAVES FROM STUDENTS' NOTE BOOK. 

SPIRITUAL SCIENCE CATECHISM. 

What is God f 
Infinite Spirit. All Good. 

Wliat is man f 
The offspring of Infinite Spirit. 

What is matter f 

The most external or lowest expression of universal 
substance. 

Is it necessary to study pathology ? 

Spiritual healers require no such study. 

Please define Mortal Mind. 

Changing states or conditions of human belief. 

Is God the A uthor of Sin, Sickness and Death f 

Decidedly He is not. 

Wliat is error f 
Misapprehension of Truth. 
Is diagnosis necessary ? 

Not in all cases ; it is, however, often desirable. 
Should treatment he silent, and how long continue f 
Silence is the greatest power. No stated time. 
Some assert that our Systems of Religion are governed 
by our Systems of Medicine. What is your opinion f 
They are in turn influenced by each other. 

What did Jesus mean when he said, " The works 
that I do, ye shall do also " f 

310 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS, 311 

Exactly what he said. 

Is a sick person tlie image and likeness of God? 

The real man is never sick, only the mortal append- 
age of man, which is not God's image, can be sick. 

Is it possible to always avoid physical suffering? 

It is, provided you understand and obey the divine 
law of harmony. 

How can we best overcome fear ? 

By boldly facing whatever we regard as calculated 
to inspire fear, then bravely defying its power to harm, 
which can only be successfully accomplished through 
unfaltering trust in Infinite Good. 

Does the suicide find a friend in death f 

Suicide is arrant folly, and folly can not promote 
our welfare. 

Is soul in the body ? 

It is not, but spirit uses the body as an instrument 
or machine. 

Should we forsake all for Truth ? 

Decidedly, but we must ever remember that truth 
only calls upon us to sacrifice error, and error is to 
truth what commonest glass is to purest gems. 

Does chemicalization always follow treatment ? 

Not invariably when it does it marks a conflict 
between truth and error, and truth must triumph. 

Are nerves the source of pain or pleasure? 

Nerves transmit the sensations they can not produce, 
as electric wires convey intelligence they can not 
furnish. 

Does spiritual science ignore ail medicine and 
hygene ? • " 

It does not rely on medicine, which it far surpasses, 



312 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

and it includes the soul and practice of genuine 
hygiene. 

Must a healer be well educated ? 

In the sense that educated means morally and men- 
tally unfolded, yes; in a scholastic sense it is not 
necessary. 

Do you believe in heredity f 

So far as mental and physical leanings are con- 
cerned we do, but all hereditary taints can be elimi- 
nated. 

Can obstetrics be practiced in this science? 

Not only can be but must be. 

Do yoic object to mesmerism and medium si dp f 

Mesmerism is vastly inferior to Spiritual Science. 
Mediumship is a blessing when rightly understood. 

Wliat are the prime causes of sickness? 

Ignorance of the Law of Health; lack of individual- 
ity, and too great love of the senses. 

Ts not metaphysical science important from a secular 
point of view ? 

Unquestionably, as metaphysical methods are the 
only ones which permanently efface crime. 

Can ice treat animals successfully ? 

Without difficulty, if they love and respect you, 
they respond very quickly to your every thought. 

Do our departed friends assist us ? 
Your "departed friends" are only "departed" in 
mortal belief, they are as truly your assistants in 
every good work as though you could see them physic- 
ally. 

What is the cause of a relapse ? 

Relapses are consequent upon imperfect acquaint- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 313 

ance with truth and nervous susceptibility to one's 
surroundings. 

Can we always resist disease, and ward it off, if ice 
know how to do it f 

Just as truly as you can make a roof water-tight or 
a ship seaworthy. 

Is Repression one of the causes of nervous prostra- 
tion f 

Kepression fosters crime, sickness and insanity. 
Eradicate evil desires, gratify lawful ones. 

Please explain the words of Jesus, " He, that believ- 
eth in me, shall never see death " f 

In the simplest interpretation of these words the 
fear of death and the pain accompanying physical dis- 
solution is intended. 

Do our spirits dwell vnthin or without our bodies? 

The spirit itself can not be wholly limited by the 
body, which it simply vitalizes, and through which it 
expresses itself. 

What is the relation between the spiritual and the ma- 
terial body f 

A relation similar to that existing betwen a per- 
former and an instrument, or a man and his clothing. 

What is thHOdylic flame seen by clairvoyants f 

Odylic, from Od (all pervading), means the astral, or 
emanating flame of vitality. 

How do magnetic healers differ from metaphysi- 
cians f 

In that they rely too much on bodily emanations 
and too little on mind. 

What are mesmerism ana magnetism f How do the^ 
differ? 



314 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Mesmerism is Anton Mesmer's limited system of 
psychology, which is founded upon a recognition of 
animal magnetism. 
What is mind f 

Intelligence manifesting in reason. 
What is spirit f 

Life itself ; being ; self -existent intelligent princi- 
ple. 

What is soul f 

The innermost or aff ectional element in spirit, mind 
being the rational. 
What is disease f 

Inharmony ; discord ; lack of equilibrium. 

How can we avoid contagious disease f 

By cultivating a mental state which generates a 
counteracting vital force. 

Why is disease Trior e easily overcome in one person 
than another f 

Because some persons are more tenacious of error, 
and at the same time more weakly susceptible than 
others. 

Is there any definite rule as regards the^ length of a 
treatment f 

Certainly not ; for in order to treatior be treated 
successfully ^ you must forget time and place. 
Why are some patients considered incurable ? 

Because spiritual perception of the means of their 
cure is lacking. 

How does chemicalization differ from the crises of 
the hydropathist f 

It differs only in this : that metaphysicians consider 
the mental cause, hydropathist s the physical effect. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 315 

How can we 'avoid being drafted by those who are 
mentally, physically and spiritually starved f 

By feeding on truth ourselves. 

Is God in us, or are we in God f 

The finite is in the Infinite. 

How can we best attain and maintain perfect health f 

By persistently acknowledging good to the exclusion 
of its opposite. 

What are the qualifications necessary for a success- 
ful healer f 

Supreme love of truth, coupled with intelligent lib- 
erality of sentiment. 

Hoio far has a physician the right to control the pa- 
tient's will f 

No right at all. Truth is submitted to conscience 
and reason, and must be embraced willingly. 

What law governs the will, and how can we best di- 
rect it f 

By concentrating our thought and affection upon 
that object we most desire to reach, and that persist- 
ently. 

Is not pleasant, harmonious conversation often one 
of the best methods f 

Converse with patients whenever you can without 
arousing opposition. 

Is it necessary for the physician to be morally and 
spiritually superior to the patient? 

It is difficult to gauge superiority, but no moral 
and mental standard can be too high. 

Is it absolutely necessary that the patient stiould be re- 
ceptive or negative f 

Receptive to truth, yes. Negative to mortal belief, 



316 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



Why is silent treatmennt best f 

Because it does not arouse excited controversy, and 
gives the most phenomenal proof. 

Are hereditary diseases (so-called) the most difficult 
to heal? 

Not unless belief in their ineradicability is firmiy 
rooted in the patient's mind. Much depends on the 
healer. 

Should we always call the disease by name in healing f 

Not unless the patient often thinks of and mentions 
it by name. When such is the case, deny it by name 
often and vigorously. 

Is the subjugation of the bodily senses necessary f 

The senses must be governed by reason. Where 
appetites dominate the will disease is inevitable. 

Should we ignore our individuality in our treatments 
for any set rule f 

No, never use any formula nor adopt an j rule which 
does not appeal to your sense of right. 

How caii we best discover truth f 

By cultivating a willingness to forego all else for 
its possession. 

Is not the personality of the patient often the object ve 
error that must be overcome f 

The idiosjmcracies and prejudices of the patient 
must be vanquished, and particularly all unkindness 
and animosity in thought, word or deed. 

Is there any law of adaptability more potent than, 
love and sympathy f 

Love manifests itself in inevitable., spontaneous sym- 
pathy which reveals true union. 

What is to be understood by perfection f and is it at- 
tainable in this life f 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 317 

Perfection in its relative sense only implies perfect 
obedience to the highest truth perceived ; this is prac- 
tical. 

Wliich are the most desirable teachers, boohs, experi- 
ence, or conversation with superior minds ? 

Books and conversation are valuable only as they 
help persons to gain experience. Experience is the high- 
est teacher. 

Can the dead be raised? 

In a figurative sense they can ; those " dead in sin " 
can be raised to " newness of life." In a physical sense 
those seemingly dead can often be restored, 

How can we best overcome selfishness f 

By steadily fixing our thought and affection on uni- 
versal human welfare. 

Why are mental healers often called mercenary f 

Probably because, like all other persons, they are 
often obliged to receive compensation for their services, 
and mercenary people, who are not true scientists, have 
invaded the ranks. 

What is matter, and is it recognized in metaphys/ cs ? 

Matter is the lowest expression or manifestation of 
mind. 

Is matter a cause or effect f 

Decidedly an effect, of which the cause is intelligent 
mind in every instance. 

Do you teach metaphysical healing to be a recent rev- 
elation or discovery f 

No, for it was well known to the ancients. It is 
only a recent discovery on the part of the masses. 

Is this new phase of healing similar to what Jesus 
practiced and taught? 



31$ 



SPIKITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 



It is identical with the healing work accomplished 
by inspired teachers and prophets everywhere, in 
every age. 

What is meant by the true Christ f 

The essential life ; divine inmost principle of hu- 
man nature ; God manifest. 

Jesitssaid: " Greater works than these shall ye doP 
What did he mean by greater f 

That whereas his work was literally confined to 
Palestine, similar work should at length be accom- 
plished everywhere. 

How many senses has man, and how many discov- 
ered or recognized by the masses f 

Seven ; for in addition to the five recognized univer- 
sally, clairvoyance and intuition are clearly distinct. 

Are metaphysical teachings mental, sentimental, sci- 
entific or inclusive f 

Inclusive in the broadest sense of the word ; but 
not so sentimental as scientific when thoroughly sound. 

Is it wise to disregard natural laics f 

True metaphysicians love, honor and obey divine 
natural law. Laws are human inventions. 

Are anatomy and physiology taught by metaphysi- 
cians, or is an under 'standing of those subjects necessary 
to the successful healer f 

Anatomy and physiology are valuable studies, but 
not always necessary. 

Is there any difference (except in name) between met- 
aphysicians, Christian scientists, mental scientists, men- 
tal healers and spiritual healers f 

Yery little real difference, save that some Christian 
scientists make of Mrs. Eddy a final authority. Men- 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 319 

tal science is not so broad and inclusive a term as spir- 
itual science, while the phrase spiritual healing is cor- 
rect, but scientifically inadequate. 

Can wasted lungs be restored f 

Under many circumstances they can be ; but it is 
difficult to decide how far medical diagnosis is accurate. 

Can we learn to overcome fatigue f 

If we live in harmonious thought we shall sleep 
naturally when we need rest without feeling exhaus- 
tion. 

If a belief exist that climate and atmosphere are un- 
healthy what is the result f 

Nervous and susceptible people are made ill through 
imbibing prevailing fear. 

Do yoio believe in contagious diseases f 

Everything is contagious if we are susceptible. We 
believe in contagious health, which is the antidote to 
all disorder. 

What, in brief is the cardinal truth of metaphysics ? 

Good is infinite and eternal. Evil is only a mortal 
inversion. 

Is it possible to overcome a belief in pain while suf- 
fering from it f 

It is, by turning the thought resolutely to the source 
of joy. It is often desirable, however, to avail one's 
self of a healer's services when pain is acute. 

How can we best cultivate a truly spiritual condi- 
tion f 

By always acting in harmony with our deepest con- 
viction of right. 

Can the skillful metaphysician ever expect to practice 
surgery f 



320 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

Mechanical surgery is a special study, which no one 
is thoroughly adapted for unless he be in a broad sense 
a true metaphysician. 

Would you allow the use of any material remedies f 
We faioio Jesus sometimes vised them. 

If you carefully read the gospels you will learn 
that Jesus trusted entirety in the efficacy of Divine 
Spirit, and in the use of material simples reversed all 
prevailing beliefs. 

Do you consider that metaphysical methods are mf- 
jicient to meet every condition and overcome all discom- 
fort f 

Decidedty we do, as it would be the height of folly 
to attribute potency to matter (the lesser) which we de- 
nied to mind (the greater). 

Are chronic cases more difficult to heal than acute 
ones? 

Not for any other reason than because old fears and 
prejudices are harder to remove than recent ones. 

Are absent treatments as beneficial as others? 

Frequently far more so, as mind thereby demon- 
strates its power more absolutely. 

Is there any objection to the term Christian science f 

None whatever, save that it is distinctly ecclesi- 
astical, and liable to arouse prejudice. 

Can anyone become a healer f 

Every one can heal some one, as healing is possible 
through an immense diversity of methods. 

Is there any difference between prayer and faith cures 
and metaphysical healing f 

Metaphysical healing includes the exercise of faith 
and prayer, but is broader in its definitions. 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 321 



\ 



Do you hold that metaphysics is superior to all other 
methods, "and especially so in insanity ? 

Unquestionably as all other methods are perforce 
inferior, and in cases of insanity worthless. 

Will disease eventually he overcome and health 
reign supreme on earth? 

Never doubt this and ever work to hasten the day. 

How can we overcome materialism and skepticism? 

By clearly presenting spiritual truth to honest 
minds without anxiety. 

Is suffering an absolute necessity/ 

It is necessary as long as you experience it, for you 
can only outgrow it by interior development. 

Shall we in the good time coming die well? 

You will leave this earth when you are ready for 
promotion without sickness. 

Is it possible, or desirable to have our lives continued 
in oiw earthly bodies beyond a ripe old age? 

It is desirable to continue living surrounded by 
physical limitations until you have ripened spiritu- 
ally so that you can enjoy a higher state of existence. 
Physical immortality is a foolish dream, as no one could 
very long be contented with physical restrictions. 
Age signifies nothing to spirit, growth is everything. 
Strive to grow so that you are prepared for a more 
glorious state of expression, and do not worry your- 
selves about the destiny of your flesh. 



31 



! 



APPENDIX. 



In compliance with the expressed wish of many of our 
subscribers we take great pleasure in here appending a 
few thoroughly authentic testimonies written by persons 
of unimpeachable integrity, who gladly publish their 
grateful acknowledgment of the inestimable boon con- 
f ered upon themselves through a practical application of 
the principle of the science to the advocac}^ and elucida- 
tion of which this book is devoted. We have only put 
before our readers a very few narratives out of hun- 
dreds which have been sent to us. Those which we here 
publish we have carefully selected as being of a char- 
acter to impress and interest the general reader. Many 
others were quite as forcible and important, but as our 
work had already exceeded originally proposed limits, 
we were compelled to confine ourselves to a few typical 
instances. In offering these facts to the public we do 
not desire in any way to detract from the well-earned 
fame of many noble and honest men and women who 
conscientiously and effectively practice medicine. What 
we do contend for is the unanswerable declaration that, 
without having recourse to any outward appliances, the 
sovereign power of mind alone is adequate to the ac- 
complishment of all and more than all that medicine 
can accomplish. Now with reference to medical men and 
women, magnetic healers and others allow us to state 
our position clearly ; we believe them capable of re- 

322 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 323 

lieving many sufferers, not alone or chiefly by their art 
but in consequence of their exercising an influ- 
ence for good over their patients in ways they 
often fail to comprehend. In California especially, 
where Ave have had many pleasant relations with 
eminent medical practitioners of the several schools 
we have found in many instances great breadth 
and liberality of sentiment and a willingness to in- 
vestigate this subject. 

Druggists, whose business it is to compound prescrip- 
tions, and who, therefore, have a special interest in the 
support of an external medical system, have also in 
many instances freel} 7 testified to their knowledge of 
the effectiveness of mental therapeutics. One highly 
accomplished young gentleman in San Francisco, a 
leading druggist in the city, who attended our classes fre- 
quently, was, in our opinion, as thoroughly practical a 
metaphysician as any who would feel it against their 
conviction to even administer hot water to a person 
suffering acute pain who desired relief from so simple 
and innocent a remedy, Intolerance and prejudice 
against doctors and apothecaries on the part of mental 
healers, and the equally unreasoning denunciation of 
metaphysicians by the advocates of physic, are alike 
irrational eccentricities of dwarfed and perverted minds. 
While the spiritual position we have taken for many 
years we can never relinquish, while we positively know 
and have abundantly demonstrated the absolute suffi- 
ciency of unassisted mind to overcome ailments which 
no medicine can reach, we at the same time fully recog- 
nize the necessity and use of duly accommodated truth, 
and by this we mean an application of healing power 



324 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

to individual necessities in accordance with the under, 
standing and conviction of those working and those 
worked upon. All over the world the medical profes- 
sion is coming to represent a truer and broader eclecti- 
cism than it ever could represent, until the spiritual 
awakening of recent years called prominent attention 
to the spiritual element in therapeutics, and threw down 
the gauntlet to modern materialism. Mrs. Eddy, of 
Boston, deserves unstinted praise for opening the 
door into the light for multitudes, and we who say 
this by no means endorse all the positions taken by 
that remarkable woman, whose extreme views neces- 
sarily excite an immense amount of controversy. Dr. 
Evans, that grand whole-souled humanitarian whose 
many works on divine, spiritual and mental modes of 
healing are acknowledged text-books of priceless, value, 
has also done more than words can tell, to turn the cur- 
rent of popular opinion in the right direction. Many, 
many others, writers, teachers, practitioners, have sown 
good seed abundantly, which is now happily beginning 
to bear fruit in a happier condition of affairs the world 
over. 

TESTIMONY OF MRS. C. M. LEWIS, 156 WARREN STREET, 
BOSTON. 

A little boy who had catarrh, and had suffered from 
birth, whose face was continually distorted, and whose 
nights were disturbed from inability to breathe, was 
entirely cured. He had been under the care of two 
medical doctors, without benefit. This child had one 
hand covered with warts which had refused to yield to 
every kind of treatment, but with the radiation of 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 325 

truth dissolved into nothingness, they went like dew 
before the sun, gradually fading away. 

This case was healed three years ago, and has stood 
intact. I mention this as so many claim that mental 
cures are not lasting. All that I shall mention are 
cases that have remained cured a year or more. 

An old lady who had suffered long with sciatica, 
and who had lain only on one side for over five years, 
was entirely cured with one treatment. . She can now 
lie on one side as well as the other with perfect ease ; 
cured two years ago at time of writing. 

In a case of eczema that had been under a physi- 
cian's care, and was being treated with morphine every 
three hours, the patient after first treatment was left 
sleeping and slept quietly through the night without 
morphine or any drug whatever. A complete cure was 
performed and morphine totally dispensed with. This 
was more than a year ago. The lady was eighty-six 
years of age. 

I was called to a case where a young man had hem- 
orrhage, and was afflicted with distressing cough. A 
doctor said he must spend the winter in Colorado if he 
wished to live, as he would not be responsible if he re- 
mained in the East. He responded readily to the truth 
without traveling, and to-clay is strong and well, re- 
flecting truth instead of error. Cured two years ago. 

A babe three months old, who had been treated to 
eight different kinds of food in its short existence, and 
who was discharging blood all day before coming under 
treatment came into harmony after first treatment and 
was healed ; is now quite well, two years old. T could 
give many more instances where truth has dispelled 



326 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

error and where light has proved the nothingness of 
darkness in equally conclusive ways. 



AN INTERESTING CASE. 

I was called to a lady very ill of pneumonia. It 
was feared she was dying the morning I w T as sum- 
moned. I found her, physically speaking, in a very 
high fever, her lungs so congested that her breathing 
was like the panting of a dog. The fever soon began 
to subside, the respiration grew easier and longer, un- 
der my "thought," or, at the call of my spirit to hers to 
come up out of its physical bondage onto the plane of 
spirit where pneumonia does not exist. During the 
treatment I received sudden and strong impression, like 
a message to "treat the bowels, keep the bowels open," 
a condition which I believe the regular practitioner 
seeks to avoid. This surprised me as the point of seem- 
ing danger, in the thought of patients and attendants 
was centered elsewhere, but remembering teh injunction: 
"quench not the spirit," I obeyed the inner prompting. 
At my next visit I was told that the patient had passed 
a tape worm, in two sections, which by actual measure- 
ment was seventy-two feet long. The lady's restora- 
tion to health was rapid. 

Miss Susie C. Clark, 
15 Centre St., Cambridgeport, Mass. 



Among other cases not generally supposed curable 
by mental or spiritual methods by those who do not yet 
realize that the physical is alone the realm of limitation, 
I would record the cure of some very severe corns and 



SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 327 

bunions, a case of eczema, one of dyspepsia of twenty- 
two years' standing, and a case of peritonitis which reg- 
ular physicians had given up to die. The water had 
stopped and could not be drawn with instruments, un- 
successful attempts to do so having been made, causing 
great torture. In fifteen minutes after I entered the 
room the water passed freely without the patient's con- 
sciousness that the stricture and inflammation were 
removed. Eecovery was immediate. 

I also treated a lady while two large, double teeth 
were extracted, she experiencing no pain, or unpleas- 
ant sensation. 

Miss Susie C. Clark, 
15 Centre St., Cambridgeport, Mass. 



A TUMOR CURED. 

A lady who had an ovarian tumor of nearly eight 
years, growth was healed in five treatments, although 
before the fifth treatment she pronounced herself 
cured, the tumor having gradually subsided until it en- 
tirely disappeared. A few months before I studied 
Spiritual Science, I spent a day or two in her home, 
during which time she was wonderfully relieved, al- 
though she did not then mention it. Does this not 
show that the spiritual power which heals is a natural 
out-breatbing, rather than the result of mental argu- 
ment, whether in " silent mind," or in verbal presenta- 
tion % The Eternal Spirit is always present to heal, it 
one lives in the conscious realization of this truth. 
Miss Mary E. Steingardt, 

1 Pearl St., Lynn, Mass. 



328 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

TESTIMONIES FURNISHED BY DR. AND MRS. CONGAR, 
247 OGDEN AVE., CHICAGO. 

San Antonio, Tex., April 22, 1884. 
The case of Miss Anna Phillips had baffled the skill 
of medical doctors, and she came to us as a last resort. 
Inheriting as she thought kidney difficulty from her 
father, who had died from that disease, she had given 
up all hope of recovery, and constantly feared insanity. 
She had been unable to walk, or go up and down stairs 
for over a year. She was healed by seven treatments, 
entirely mental and spiritual. Miss Phillips proclaimed 
the glad tidings of health far and near, and was a 
striking advertisement for truth seen and read by all. 

Rosa C. Congar. 

San Antonio, Tex., April, 1884. 
The case of Mrs. W. 1ST. Coffy, was a combination 
of uterine difficulties, indigestion, constipation and in- 
action of liver and kidneys, producing partial blindness 
and dizziness. One treatment produced a marked 
change in her condition. She was entirely restored in 
twenty-four treatments. Few cases can be found more 
complicated or physically worse than the above. 

Rosa C. Congar. 

Galveston, Tex., March 1884. 
Mrs. Rickey had been unable to work or walk for a 
year, suffering constant pain resulting from uterine 
complications, with nervous exhaustion. 

Only eight treatments were needed to restore her 
to health both of body and mind. She reported her- 
self strong and well, six months later, expressing great 
gratitude for such singular benefit. 

Rosa C. Congar, 



SPIR rtTAL THERAPEUTICS. 329 

Oakland, Cal., July, 1S8T. 
The case of Mrs. J. S., of New Britain, Conn., who 
visited California, as a last hope, was one of chronic 
liver and kidney difficulty, attended with, severe cough. 
She declared that by simply talking with us, she felt 
better. In twenty treatments she was well. Six 
months later she told us $1,000 would not pay for all 
we had done for her. She returned to her home in 
Connecticut, a strong, healthy woman sixty-five years of 
aire. Rosa C. Congar. 



CASE OF CHAS. CLOUGH. 

Oakland, Cal., July, 1886. 
Diagnosis : Rheumatism for over six months ; con- 
stipation, stomach and liver troubles; had only two 
weeks to remain before leaving for Mexico. Could he 
be helped in that time ? We gave him strong hope that 
he could be very much benefited. With four treat- 
ments his lameness was entirely removed, and he 
declared he was in every way well, and could walk as 
far as he ever could in his life. 

Dr. M. E. Congar. 



CASE OF JOHN MEYERS. 

Galveston, Tex., March 5, 1884 
Diagnosis : Injured by a fall ; kidneys failed to do 
their work; sunstroke, constipation, rheumatic pains in 
right shoulder, rupture, etc., etc.; declared he was only 
fit for the grave; tried mental treatment to please his 
wife ; was healed in twenty-six treatments ; volunteered 
a strong testimonial ; a German rationalist, without the 
least faith to build upon, but looked at the end of one 
month like a new man. Rosa C. Congar. 



330 SPIRITUAL THERAPEUTICS. 

San Antonio, Tex., May, 1884. 

Mrs. Mary N for seven }^ears had been a victim 

to periodical attacks of sick-headache; was a physical 
wreck. Her right lung was diseased, and she suffered 
from a constant cough and many other unpleasant 
s}anptoms. Mrs. N was healed in twelve treat- 
ments by purely metaphysical methods, and said she 
felt better than in twenty years previously. 

Mrs. R. C. Conoar. 



Galveston, Tex., February, 1884. 
The case of Mr. W. O. Rutledge was one of long 
standing; said he had taken drugs enough in the past 
twenty years to stock a drug store; was but a wreck 
of his former self, the result of a diseased heart, inac- 
tion of the digestive organs, and poisoned blood ; used 
tobacco excessively; was perfectly healed in forty-five 
treatment. He always slept during treatment. He 
was also enabled to relinquish his tobacco habit. 
We received many letters from him during the next 
year, in which he always reported himself strong and 
fleshy. Rosa C. Congar. 

EXPERIENCE OF MRS. LILY D. BOTHWELL, SAN DIEGO, 

CAL. 
In 1874 I had the misfortune to sprain my right 
knee; slight lameness for six or eight weeks was the 
result, though I did not at that time realize its serious 
import. It gave me no permanent trouble. At times 
I lamed myself for a few weeks, by making some quick 
movement. One morning in February, 1886, I awoke 
to find that I could bear no weight on the right foot. 
Not sensing the actual condition, I gave it no serious 



Spiritual Therapeutics. 331 

thought until the third day when I found that the 
whole limb was losing power. Two surgeons pro- 
nounced the case " fluid around the joint." The limb 
continued to grow weaker and finally began to shrink. 
During three months of deep mental and physical de- 
pression I was under the care of a most capable surgeon, 
whose every effort to relieve the trouble seemed futile. 
The case baffled experience. The weakness of the 
limb became so excessive that day and night I was 
obliged to rest it upon a piliow. 

A lady asked me one day why I did not try mental 
cure. I replied that I knew nothing about it. She then 
spoke of a metaphysician whom she knew to be veiy 
successful, and (to use an old phrase) as a last resort I 
sent for her. She gave me treatments for a week with- 
out visible effect on the physical. A few hours after 
the seventh treatment, sitting quite alone in my room 
reading Dr. Evans' Primitive Mind Cure, the chapter 
on the Art of Forgetting Disease, with crutches beside 
me, my foot resting on a chair and a pillow under 
the knee, I became so deeply engrossed in the sub- 
ject that I was oblivious of self until I realized that 
I was standing on the opposite side of the room, and 
that I had walked there of my own free will, quite 
without the aid of the friendly crutches, for there they 
stood beside my vacant chair. I was greatly excited 
and continued to walk, cry and laugh alternately for 
an hour or more. As the different members of my 
family returned and found what had been done they 
were in much the same state of mental excitement that 
I was in. 

The following morning the metaphysician came as 



332 



SPI MTU A L Til ER A l'E UTICS. 



usual, and she, too, was quite overcome when she saw 
the wonderful work that had been accomplished. It 
was like one of the so-called miracles of old, so marvel- 
ous were the results. I shall ever hold this dear lady, 
Mrs. Shields, of Berkeley, Cal., in grateful and lov- 
ing remembrance. I consider her work one of the 
greatest achievements of Spiritual Science. No weak- 
ness was felt in the knee at any time after I began walk- 
ing. A course of twenty-one treatments entirely cured 
me. Some two weeks later Mr. Colville came to Oak- 
land and opened a class in Spiritual Science. Eager 
for enlightenment I joined it. After the sixth lesson I 
had the misfortune to slip on the sidewalk and sprain 
the knee again. It became swollen and useless. Once 
more I was obliged to resort to crutches. I felt heart- 
broken that by carelessness I should bring that calami- 
tous condition upon myself. The following morning 
I attended the class and after the lecture stated the 
case and asked a class treatment. Mr. Colville said 
" You have heard the lady's statement, now give her 
your concentrated thought that she is not lame, that 
she can walk." The lameness was gone instantly and I 
arose and walked. My husband carried my crutches 
home, and from that time I have not used them nor 
have I been lame. 

N. B. — The incident recorded here took place on the 
campgrounds bordering Lake Merritt, Oakland, Cal., 
in June, 1886, and was witnessed by fully two hundred 
persons. 



ALL STUDENTS OF THEOSOPHY 



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The Mystery of the Ages" 



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( DUCHESSE DE POMAR.) 



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THE EDUCATOR, 

CAUSE AND CURE OF ALL DISEASE. 

A work of over 650 pages, just issued. 

By Rosa Cadman Congar, M.H.', and Dr. M. E. Ccngar. 

This work is made up of Twenty-four Chapters, and brief sum- 
mary. 

Chapter I. — Introductory, by Dr. Congar. 

Chapter II. — Causes: Ignorance and neglect. 

Chapter III. — Remedies: Innumerable and simple; should be as 
varied in application as are the faces of the human family. 

Chapter IV. — Lungs, Stomach and Circulation: These vital 
organs and their functions duly considered. 

Chapter V. — Heart and Liver. Their relation and importance 
considered. 

Chapter VI. — Constipation and Piles : This one charter is worth 
the price of the book to every family. 

Chapter VII. — Baths, Gymnastics and Ventilation : The les- 
sons taught in this division are all exceedingly important. 

Chapter VIII. — Hygienic Food: If you desire perfect health, 
you must make a careful study and live the teachings of this 
chapter. 

Chapter IX. — Physiology of Marriage: Advice and counsel that 
parents should not ignore. 

Chapter X. — Fevers and Inflammations: Only signals of dis- 
tress; friends, and not enemies. 

Chapter XI. — Bowels, Kidneys and Bladder: If diseased, be- 
cause of bad treatment. 

Chapter XII. — Sunshine and Shadow: Important, very im~ 
portant health requisites. 

Chapter XIII. — Dress: The subject dressed as only woman can 
dress it. 

Chapter XIV.— Colds, Catarrh, Consumption, Bronchitis, 
Asthma and Indigestion : Causes shown, and simple remedies 
prescribed which have never failed. 

Chapter XV. —Useful Recipes: Condensed items; necessities In 
every household, 



Chapter XVI.— Health Crystals: Illustrates the power of poetry 
and gems of thought, to heal and uplift the sick and depressed. 

Chapter XVII.— Pregnancy : Parturition without pain considered. 
The subject treated by a mother, having had large experience 

and observation. 

Chapter XVIII. -Children, their Care at Birth and During 
Childhood : Thirty pages devoted to this important subject. 

Chapter XIX.— Diseases of Women and Children: Women are 
everywhere suffering from ignorance of the laws of their being. 
A careful study will be of great advantage to both mother and 
child. 

Chapter XX.— Testimony of 100 Eminent M.D's., Professors 
and Chemists : We ask all who think they are safe in relying 
upon medicines when sick, to read this chapter of the "Edu- 
cator " before any other. 

Chapter XXI.— Tobacco and Alcoholic Liquors : We only ask a 
candid, unprejudiced perusal of this division of the work. 

Chapter XXII. — Health Hash : A hundred or more brief hints 
hashed up for the good of all. 

Chapter XXIII. — Menstruation and Change of Life : Important 
facts for old and young. 

Chapter XXIV.— Miscellaneous Diseases, Remedies and Sug- 
gestions : The suggestions will uplift and strengthen your lives. 
Read every word of this closing chapter. 

The very choice colored illustrations add much to the intrinsic 
value of the Educator. 

Every practical Metaphysician should study it. 

Agents Wanted. 

Unusual inducements are offered agents, both men and women, in 
every State, County, City and Township in the United States 
and Canada. Address, 

EDUCATOR PUBLISHING CO. 

Dr. M. S. Congar, Mg'r., Chicago, 111. 

Lock Box 328. 



idk- :m:_ zel cousto-^:^ 

Rosa cadman congar, m. h., 

METAPHYSICIANS, 

S31 "W. ILv£a,clis©zi St., CHICAGO, ILX-.. 

EXPERIENCED TEACHERS AND HEALERS. 

Students and Patients Taught and Healed at a 

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Send stamp for particulars. Terms reasonable. 



-&. IDTIE^T BOOK. 



"Meiital TlierapeutiGS, Philosophy 

(Hid Pheppa" 

WILL BE ISSUED IN A FEW WEEKS. 

This work supplements " Health and Healing," is by the same 

author, W. J. Colville, and gives advanced lessons upon 

Theosophy and kindred subjects. 

About 250 pages, handsomely bound in cloth, sent 
post-paid for $ I .OO. 

Address EDUCATOR PUBLISHING CO., Lock Box 328, CHICAGO. 

Dr. M. E, CONGAR, Manager, 



\ Standard Ifefcapliijgical Wo^ 

.-Mm— — 

UNIVERSAL THEOSOPHY. 
By W. J. Colville. 



A volume of 365 pages, designed as a perfect guide, a complete text- 
/ book for Students and Healers, and to aid in an unfoldment that 
will insure health or enable all to assist mentally in their own 
recovery, consisting of thirteen class lectures, sixty important ques- 
tions and answers, covering almost every conceivable thought upon 
the subject pertaining to mental science. 

The influence of mind upon bodies, in health and disease, with full 
explanations of the methods of treatment. 

" Those whose minds are fertile as well as receptive, those to whom 
one idea suggests another and who have the gift of tracing conclu- 
sions to their sources," will find complete instructions enabling them 
to heal themselves and others, without other expensive assistance. 

The Publishers have added a very desirable feature not found in 
any other Work of this class, viz.: a very full Glossary and Index. 



Best Terms to the Trade. Universal Theosophy is sold everywhere. 

Very Liberal Terms to Agents. Mail Orders receive prompt 

attention. Price in best English Cloth, $2.00. 



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THE SPIRITUAL SCIENCE 

OF* 

H ealth #> H ealing 

CONSIDERED IN 

Twelve lecturers. 

-~>>^^DELIVERED INSPIRATIONAL!. Y^<^^- 

BY W. J. COLVILLE 

In San Francisco and Boston during 1886, and published 
by urgent request. 

No other teacher or writer has yet been able to make the 
whole subject of Healing by the Mental Methods so clear, 
plain and easily understood. No other teacher harmon- 
izes the varied and seemingly conflicting views as does 
W. J. Colville. 

FINELY BOUND IN CLOTH, 263 PAGES, PRICE $1.00, 



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— IMCDW^ 

I1M 13CDCDK F^CD1F?M. 

THE SERIES OF LESSONS GIVEN BY THE GUIDES OF 
MRS. CORA L. V. RICHMOND, 

ENTITLED 

Its Embodiment in Human Form. 
in six lessons, viz.: 

1st Lesson. The Soul ;* its Relation to God. 

2d Lesson. The Dual Nature of the Soul. 

3d Lesson. The Embodiment of the Soul in Human Form. 

4th Lesson. The Embodiment of the Soul in Human Form. — (Cont'd.) 

5th Lesson. The Re-united Soul, including Parental and Kindred Souls. 

6th Lesson. Angels, Archangels, and Messiahs. 



The primary object in the preservation of these Lessons in book form was 
to answer the urgent request of members of classes for a text book, or book 
of reference; but the ever increasing interest in these and kindred subjects 
among thoughtful minds in all parts of the world, and the grea* - demand for 
information concerning the subject matter of these teachings, have led to the 
publication ot this volume. 

Handsomely bound in Cloth, Price, $1,00, 



All orders addressed to WM. RICHMOND, 

64 Union Park Place, 

CHICAGO, ILL. 



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